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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is polyethism?
(a) Division of work by age.
(b) Division of work by gender.
(c) Division of work by caste.
(d) Division of work by strength.

2. Which of the following is NOT a system of kin recognition listed in the novel?
(a) Recognition by Association.
(b) Spatial Distribution.
(c) Allelic Recognition.
(d) Sensual Recognition.

3. Which of the following is NOT one of the ways biomass is measured?
(a) Weighing.
(b) Collecting.
(c) Drying.
(d) Photographing.

4. In the woodlands of New England, ants move as much soil as what other insect?
(a) Scarab Beetles.
(b) Armadillidiidae.
(c) Centipedes.
(d) Earthworms.

5. Which of the following is NOT a concern for major workers?
(a) Milling.
(b) Food storage.
(c) Self-grooming.
(d) Trophallaxis.

6. From what gland do ants lay odor trails leading to food sources?
(a) Dufour gland.
(b) Metapleural gland.
(c) Maxillary gland.
(d) Propharyngeal gland.

7. When did Creighton create his useful review of "Ants North of Mexico"?
(a) 1950.
(b) 1960.
(c) 1970.
(d) 1980.

8. How many life cycle stages do all ant colonies go through?
(a) Four.
(b) Three.
(c) Five.
(d) Two.

9. How long is the desert ant's life expectancy?
(a) 6 days.
(b) 26 days.
(c) 16 days.
(d) 36 days.

10. Which of the following is NOT a reason Wilson gives as to how colonies manage their queen numbers?
(a) Reproductive Castration.
(b) Emigration.
(c) Egg Defect.
(d) Physical Elimination.

11. What part of milling-major heads are adapted for their work?
(a) Their ears.
(b) Their mouths.
(c) Their antennae.
(d) Their eyes.

12. Which of the following worlds does Wilson claim that ants run?
(a) The coastal world.
(b) The terrestrial world.
(c) The aquatic world.
(d) All of the above.

13. Which of the following is NOT a criterion used to decide that an ant colony is a unit rather than a group of individuals?
(a) It undergoes an adaptive cycle of growth.
(b) It is precise in execution of planned actions.
(c) It shows idiosyncrasies in behavior, size, and structure.
(d) It differentiates into germ plasma.

14. Which of the following is NOT an insect phenomenon documented in the opening of this novel?
(a) The shaping of castes through natural selection.
(b) The hierarchy in control processes.
(c) The effects of competition on community structure.
(d) The social effects of monarchical rule.

15. What happens when a queen ant is found to be infertile?
(a) She is ignored.
(b) She becomes a worker ant.
(c) She is expelled from the colony.
(d) She is killed.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following groups of insects uses kin recognition similar to ants?

2. What is the colloquial name for the ant species "Paratrechina longicornis"?

3. Which of the following was the first scientist to discuss kin selection in ants?

4. Which of the following is NOT part of an ant's head?

5. What is the first stage in ant colony development?

(see the answer keys)

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