How Did Termite Workers Evolve To Become Sterile?

How Did Termite Workers Evolve To Become Sterile?

According to the great biologist, Charles Darwin, only the animals with the best chances of survival will live to pass on their genes. In order for animals to pass on their genes, a male and a female must mate, of course. But what would Darwin think about termites? The majority of a termite colony consists of sterile termites that never mate. If this is the case then how did they adapt so well to the natural environment? Better yet, why did termite offspring evolve to become sterile in the first place? According to experts, termites eventually became sterile as a result of never leaving their nests.

The earliest termites to have existed on this planet may not have been sterile. Termites existing more than a hundred million years ago could have left their colonies in order to start new colonies elsewhere. However, when termites leave their nests, they obviously become vulnerable to predators. Modern termites always leave their nests in large groups, but this behavior is an adaptation that did not exist millions of years ago. Early termite offspring were likely killed-off promptly upon leaving their nests. These termites eventually learned that it is more advantageous to never leave their nests. So the young termites stayed home with mom and dad well into their adult years.

These home-body termites simply stayed at home while their queen and king parents produced more termite siblings. By never leaving the nest, termite offspring were only increasing their chances of becoming queens or kings later on. Once the queen and king die, early termites were free to become reproductive masters over their own colonies. Since producing more offspring was not worth the danger of venturing outside of nests, termites had no reason to reproduce. As a result, termite offspring adapted sterility. Once that occured termite offspring were no longer troubled by their instinctive need to venture out of the nest in order to form a new colony with a mate. Therefore, sterility became an evolutionary advantage for termite offspring.

Why do you think that queen termites evolved the ability to secrete pheromones that made their offspring compliant and sterile?