Genome Evolution in Social Insects

Sociality is a complex phenotype which has evolved multiple times across the tree of life, particularly in the insects. Insect sociality likely arises via the evolution of the genome, with changes in specific genes, gene families, and gene regulatory mechanisms linked to social traits. In turn, sociality itself can influence patterns of genome evolution through the effects of smaller effective population sizes, longer generation times, and reproductive division of labor. Moreover, particular social insect lineages have some noteworthy genome features which may influence both trait and genome evolution, including elevated recombination rates, haplodiploidy, and supergenes. This review explores the genomic causes and consequences of social traits in insects, emphasizing the importance of using evolutionary perspectives to study these processes across diverse social lineages.