ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2021
Why and how do termite kings and queens live so long?
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ageing effects of social environments in 'non-social' insects.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Adaptive changes in behavioral and physiological traits during worker-reproductive transition in Reticulitermes chinensis (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae).Journal of insect science (Online) · 2026Article
- Transcription Factor Evolution Associated with Social Transitions in Blattodea.Journal of molecular evolution · 2026Article
- Accumulation of 13C-labeled phosphatidylethanolamine in the termite abdomen revealed by correlative isotope microscopy and mass microscopy.Microscopy (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Eusocial reproduction selects for longevity.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Transcriptomic Evidence Reveals the IIS-FOXO-SOD2 Axis as a Core Anti-Aging Pathway in Long-Lived Queens ofInsects · 2026Article
- Dampwood TermiteThe journal of poultry science · 2026Article
- Extended longevity of termite kings and queens is accompanied by extranuclear localization of telomerase in somatic organs and caste-specific expression of its isoforms.Insect science · 2025Article
- Cell type specific polyploidization in the royal fat body of termite queens.Zoological letters · 2023Article
- Advancing methods for the biodemography of aging within social contexts.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2023Review
- Discovery of an underground chamber to protect kings and queens during winter in temperate termites.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- King- and queen-specific degradation of uric acid contributes to reproduction in termites.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Complex regulatory role of DNA methylation in caste- and age-specific expression of a termite.Open biology · 2022Article
- Ageing and sociality: why, when and how does sociality change ageing patterns?Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Lifespan varies greatly across the tree of life. Of the various explanations for this phenomenon, those that involve trade-offs between reproduction and longevity have gained considerable support. There is an important exception: social insect reproductives (queens and in termites, also kings) exhibit both high reproductive outputs and extraordinarily long lives. As both the ultimate and proximate mechanisms underlying the absence of the fecundity/longevity trade-off could shed light on the unexpected dynamics and molecular mechanisms of extended longevity, reproductives of social insects have attracted much attention in the field of ageing research. Here, we highlight current ecological and physiological studies on ageing and discuss the various possible evolutionary and molecular explanations of the extended lifespans of termite reproductives. We integrate these findings into a coherent framework revealing the evolution of longevity in these reproductives. Studies on termites may explain why and how ageing is shaped by natural selection. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ageing and sociality: why, when and how does sociality change ageing patterns?'
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