Such information is useful for reconstructing pathways of animal social evolution. Current views on insect social evolution stress the importance of ecological and behavioral environments in molding what are largely plastic social behaviors. Genetic control of social organization in an ant. S. invicta is an introduced pest species in the southern US, the species existing in two distinct social forms. The so-called social insects live in societies that rival human societies in complexity and internal cohesion.
Genes never act alone.
They must operate in an environment where they code for proteins that participate in many systems in an organism, with these systems in turn influencing the expression of genes. Consequently, biologists must take a broad approach in assessing the impact of any gene. The research group of the author uses the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera. Honey bees pass through different life stages as they age, and their behavioral responses to environmental and social stimuli change in predictable ways. Although worker bees go through a consistent path of behavioral development, this path is not rigidly determined.