Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The presence of different work activities among different members of an insect community, or at different times in an insect's life

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word polyethism.

Examples

  • Concerning the active reaction to cold stress by endothermy, age polyethism is reduced to only two physiologically predetermined task divisions, 0 to ~2 days and older.

    ScienceBlogs Channel : Life Science 2010

  • Concerning the active reaction to cold stress by endothermy, age polyethism is reduced to only two physiologically predetermined task divisions, 0 to ~2 days and older.

    ScienceBlogs Channel : Life Science 2010

  • Thus, the circadian clock pathway may represent a conserved 'genetic toolkit' that has facilitated the parallel evolution of age-related polyethism and task allocation in social insects.

    BioMed Central - Latest articles 2009

  • Age-related polyethism, a derived form of division of labor in ants and bees where colony tasks are allocated among distinct behavioral phenotypes, has traditionally been assumed to be a product of convergent evolution.

    BioMed Central - Latest articles 2009

  • Calderone NW, Page RE (1996) Temporal polyethism and behavioural canalization in the honey bee,

    PLoS ONE Alerts: New Articles Jennifer M. Tsuruda et al. 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "Functional specialization in different members of a colony of social insects, which leads to a division of labour within the colony. The various functions may be carried out by individuals of different morphology (caste polyethism) or of different ages (age polyethism)."

    (MICHAEL ALLABY. "polyethism." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved April 19, 2010 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-polyethism.html)

    April 19, 2010