Social Insects: An Evolutionary Journey into Cooperation

This article is a primer on social insects, and includes salient features of eusociality, its evolution and characteristics of a few social insects. It introduces William Morton Wheeler's landmark book "Social Life Among the Insects," whose centenary year of publication inspired the theme of this special issue of the Journal of the Indian Institute of Science. It also gives a brief description of research on fascinating social insects being carried out in India, and how so much is yet to be explored.