Bartz's (1979) inbreeding hypothesis on termite social evolution predicted that (1) all termite colonies should have supplementary reproductives, (2) the winged alates should be the offspring of inbreeding supplementaries, and (3) alates should outbreed. These predictions are examined here for each family and subfamily of the Isoptera. Prediction 1 is at least superficially upheld for most termites that do produce either neotenic or adultoid reproductives. The rate of supplementary and replacement reproduction, however, varies greatly between different taxa. Prediction 2 is not upheld for the majority of termites because primary reproductives tend to be long lived and primary-headed colonies do generate alates. It may be upheld for Mastotermes, many of the Rhinotermitidae, and some Termitidae. Prediction 3 appears to be true for most termines, although support for it is inferential only. The breeding pedigrees of termites vary greatly with their ecological specializations and it is unlikely that Bartz's model can be reconciled to such variation. Bart's hypothesis also makes certain assumptions about the nature of caste differentiation and the nature of the behavior underlying the sociality of termites. These assumptions are discussed and some criticisms are made. We conclude that inbreeding according to Bartz's model may be a contributing factor in the social evolution of some termites but is probably not the major initiating or sustaining factor in termite social evolution.
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Myles et al. (1988) studied this question.