: living in a cooperative group in which usually one female and several males are reproductively active and the nonbreeding individuals care for the young or protect and provide for the group
Recent Examples on the WebAs eusocial insects, the world of the honey bee revolves around keeping the queen (larger bee in center of image) healthy and productive.—Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 4 Oct. 2018 Ants are eusocial, which means members of the colony pitch in to perform specific tasks.—Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 11 Feb. 2016 Bees and other eusocial insects, for instance, clearly show evidence of collective intelligence.—Adam Frank, The Atlantic, 19 Feb. 2022 The inner workings of mole rats’ odd eusocial structure earns them a reputation for aggression.—Max G. Levy, Wired, 24 May 2021 Leaning in particular on research into the captivating lives of eusocial insects like ants and bees, the researchers looked at six different ways that the presence of contagious disease can change social interactions.—Ellie Shechet, Popular Science, 5 Mar. 2021 While the scores of social ant species all evolved from one common social ancestor, bees’ eusocial nature evolved multiple times independently.—Quanta Magazine, 6 May 2014 Knowing When the Rules Apply Hamilton’s rule was never meant to apply to eusocial insect colonies alone.—Jordana Cepelewicz, Scientific American, 26 Apr. 2018 The most familiar examples are the fully eusocial ants, in which many sterile female workers do all the chores, a single large queen lays all the eggs, and a sprinkling of male ants, or drones, supply the sperm.—Natalie Angier, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2017 See More
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'eusocial.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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