Experimental disruption of social structure reveals totipotency in the orchid bee, Euglossa dilemma

Eusociality has evolved multiple times across the insect phylogeny. Social insects with greater levels of social complexity tend to exhibit specialized castes with low levels of individual phenotypic plasticity. In contrast, species with simple social groups may consist of totipotent individuals that transition among behavioral and reproductive states. However, recent work has shown that in simple social groups, there can still be constraint on individual plasticity, caused by differences in maternal nourishment or  social interaction. It is not well understood how these constraints arise, ultimately leading to the evolution of nonreproductive workers. Some species of orchid bees form social groups of a dominant and 1-2 subordinate helpers where all individuals are reproductive. Females can also disperse to start their own nest as a solitary foundress, which includes a nonreproductive phase, characterized by ovary inactivation, not typically expressed by subordinates. Little is known ab...