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.

中文翻译：

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社会性昆虫：合作的进化之旅

本文是关于社会性昆虫的入门读物，包括真社会性的显着特征、其进化以及一些社会性昆虫的特征。它介绍了威廉·莫顿·惠勒（William Morton Wheeler）的里程碑式著作《昆虫的社会生活》，该书出版一百周年激发了印度科学研究所杂志本期特刊的主题。它还简要描述了印度正在进行的令人着迷的社会性昆虫的研究，以及还有多少有待探索。