@article{ae421976cd994c679cafa6f33245dd27,
title = "Emergence of increased division of labor as a function of group size",
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.",
keywords = "Colony size, Division of labor, Tasks number, Threshold model",
author = "Rapha{\"e}l Jeanson and Jennifer Fewell and Root Gorelick and Bertram, {Susan M.}",
note = "Funding Information: Our results also reveal that division of labor is negatively associated with demand (the need for work to be completed relative to the number of available workers). This theoretical finding is supported by empirical evidence. In the wasp Ropadilia marginata, behavioral observations indicate that an increase in demand is met by an increase in the number of active workers and eventually; as the need for work increases further, workers increase their task generalization (Naug 2001). Work requirements should increase with worker number, as new space and resource requirements are added. However, additional work requirements should not match the increase in potential work output and efficiency from adding individuals. Decreasing demand generates an increase in the proportion of inactive workers. Our model suggests that this promotes division of labor. Changes in the demand associated with completing all tasks could also contribute to the behavioral ontogeny of task specialization. For instance, variations in the demand for hygienic behaviors induced by changing the genotypic composition of honeybee hives—and consequently the number of individuals competent to perform this task— alter the ontogeny and persistence of task specialization (Arathi and Spivak 2001).",
year = "2007",
month = dec,
doi = "10.1007/s00265-007-0464-5",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "62",
pages = "289--298",
journal = "Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology",
issn = "0340-5443",
publisher = "Springer Verlag",
number = "2",
}