eusociality

n. a social structure among nonhuman animals in which there is a marked division of labor, with only a few individuals that reproduce and many more nonreproductive individuals that guard the nest, gather food and nest materials, or help to care for the young. Eusociality is a common form of social structure in colonial species of bees and wasps (see social insects): The haplodiploidy mode of inheritance helps to explain the adaptiveness of nonreproductive helpers caring for the young of the queen. —eusocial adj.

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Psychology term of the day

December 22nd 2024

autassassinophilia

n. a paraphilia in which sexual arousal and the achievement of orgasm are facilitated by the fantasy or belief that one is in danger of being killed. This may include the individual staging a sexual encounter characterized by extreme masochism with the real potential for his or her own murder. Also called autoassassinatophilia. Compare homicidophilia.