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Emergence of increased division of labor as a function of group size

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Abstract

Empirical evidence suggests that division of labor in insect societies is positively related to group size both within and across taxa. Response threshold models (RTM) have been commonly used to analyze patterns of division of labor. However, these models have been explored empirically and theoretically for only a limited number of tasks, and few studies have examined predictions of the model as colony size and work availability change. We theoretically examine how group size influences division of labor using a fixed response-threshold model. We simultaneously explore how expected by-products of increased colony size, including demand (total work need relative to total work force available) and task number, affect this relationship. Our results indicate that both low demand and high task number positively influence division of labor. We suggest that these changes parallel what is observed within social groups as their size increases, and that, in part, the commonly observed increased division of labor with increasing group size is emergent.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank B. Hölldobler and P. Kukuk for their helpful discussions and insights. We thank four anonymous referees for helpful comments regarding the manuscript. This research was supported by National Science Foundation grant number 0446415 awarded to JHF and SMB. RJ was supported by a post-doctoral grant from the Fyssen Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, CNRS UMR 5169, Université Paul Sabatier, 118, Route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse, France

    Raphaël Jeanson

  2. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4501, USA

    Jennifer H. Fewell

  3. Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Root Gorelick & Susan M. Bertram

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  1. Raphaël Jeanson
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  2. Jennifer H. Fewell
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Correspondence to Raphaël Jeanson.

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Communicated by J. Traniello

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Jeanson, R., Fewell, J.H., Gorelick, R. et al. Emergence of increased division of labor as a function of group size. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62, 289–298 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-007-0464-5

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