Reviewing Social Facilitation in Insects Over the Past 30 Years

Abstract

Social facilitation is a phenomenon in which individuals from a group show behavioral changes due to the presence of other organisms of the same species. This happens through group interaction between these individuals, later increasing in frequency or intensity. Social facilitation studies began with humans but later extended to other species, including insects. The concepts of social facilitation in insects developed over the last 30 years are reviewed here. To that end, bibliographic searches were carried out to determine whenthe term social facilitation first emerged, how it was described in the research, where and when it was applied, and how the concept is currently employed. There has been, however, a steady decrease in the number of published texts conceptualizing the term social facilitation during the last three decades. Nevertheless, the terms emergent behavior, collective behavior, and informationexchange enabled expansion of the survey on social facilitation, indicating that study in the area remains broad. The orders Blattodea (cockroaches and termites) and Hymenoptera (ants, wasps, and bees) were the most represented among the surveyed publications, indicating the occurrence of social facilitation due to eusociality. Eusocial organisms demonstrate unique social interactions, which makes them likely objects of future social facilitation studies.