Michael Ghiselin in American Scientist:
One of the most striking features of insect societies is that they contain “neuter castes” of organisms that do not reproduce (worker bees, for example). That created a problem for Darwin, who conceptualized his theory of natural selection in terms of one individual outreproducing other members of its species. He solved the problem by saying that it is individual “families” (in this case, individual colonies), not just individual organisms, that reproduce differentially. Darwin treated groups composed of organisms—families, tribes, colonies—as units that get selected. In the case of the neuter castes, he reasoned, it is an advantage to such communities to have sterile members who spend their time and energy working for the prosperity of the colony as a whole rather than bearing offspring.
More here.
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