Evolutionary genetics of division of labor in colonies of the honey bee (Apis mellifera)

Demonstrates a genotypic component to variability in those elements of individual behavior necessary for the evolution of the individual and colony-level behavioral phenotype - variability in task specialization and variability in the age-based system of division of labor. A model for individual behavior integrates the effects of variability in individual genotypes with the current model of age and environmental determinism. Worker behavior is characterized by two elements: the proportion of time spent performing specific tasks (task specialization) and the temporal pattern of task performance (temporal division of labor). Evidence presented here suggests that these components may be independent of one another. Variation in the temporal pattern of performance of nest activities is independent of variation in the ontogeny of foraging behaviour. -from Authors