Insect colonies Insect colonies are families because all members are close relatives. Most colony members are progeny of the same parents. At the initial stages of social evolution, the individuals in a colony are uniform. For example, colonies of the tent caterpillar have no differentiation among individuals. This is beneficial for the entire colony.
Sociality is more advanced in bees, ants, and termites.
They often have a division of labor and corresponding morphological differences. Social insects have very complicated behavior. Their success largely depends on coordinated actions of many individuals. For example, leaf-cutting ants have underground fungus gardens . Ants bring foliage to this garden and collect fungus for food.