- publication
- 01-04-2026
Social insects represent some of the most speciose animal lineages, with biomass surpassing that of other animals by orders of magnitude, and often occupying dominant roles in terrestrial ecosystems. Some species express social organization so complex that they are considered superorganisms. These societies create ecological niches for diverse microorganisms, which associate with their insect hosts across a spectrum of interactions along the parasitism—mutualism continuum. With such complexity, the question arises whether specific aspects of insect social life have driven the evolution of exceptional symbiotic adaptations unseen elsewhere. In this chapter, we review the diversity of microbial symbioses across the social insects, attempting to identify their unique features. We ask whether microbial symbionts have played a role in the evolution of sociality in insects and, in turn, whether sociality exerts specific selective pressures on microbial evolution, transmission, and function. Finally, we review the current knowledge on the relationship between microbial symbionts and insect host sociality, which was recently driven by the development of social insect experimental models allowing for causal inferences in microorganism-host interactions.
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