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Insect sociometry, a field in search of data

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Summary

The study of social insects has proceeded without adequate descriptive data on social insect attributes. The term “sociometry” is proposed for the collection and analysis of the physical and numerical attributes of social insect colonies and their inhabitants. Sociometry can be seen as having 3 levels — the compilation of data, the distribution patterns of the attributes among species (comparative studies), and the detection of relationships of the attributes to each other. Many sociometric attributes may be linked, hence evolve under constraint from other attributes. The study of social insects would benefit greatly through the organized collection of sociometric data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Florida State University, 32306-3050, Tallahassee, Fl, USA

    W. R. Tschinkel

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  1. W. R. Tschinkel
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Tschinkel, W.R. Insect sociometry, a field in search of data. Ins. Soc 38, 77–82 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01242715

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01242715

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