Which taxonomist established the 'superorganism' concept?

Which taxonomist established the 'superorganism' concept?

• A. William Morton Wheeler
• B. Ernst Haeckel
• C. Karl von Frisch
• D. Rachel Carson

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is that a colony of social insects can function as a single, integrated unit—the superorganism—where workers, queens, and other castes coordinate and divide labor to maintain the whole system, much like organs do in a body. William Morton Wheeler is the scientist who formulated and popularized this view for ants and other eusocial insects, arguing that the colony’s emergent behavior arises from collective organization rather than from individual actions alone. The other names contributed to different areas—Haeckel worked on evolutionary theory and morphology, von Frisch studied how bees communicate, and Carson wrote about ecology and environmentalism—so Wheeler is the one who established the superorganism concept.

The idea being tested is that a colony of social insects can function as a single, integrated unit—the superorganism—where workers, queens, and other castes coordinate and divide labor to maintain the whole system, much like organs do in a body. William Morton Wheeler is the scientist who formulated and popularized this view for ants and other eusocial insects, arguing that the colony’s emergent behavior arises from collective organization rather than from individual actions alone. The other names contributed to different areas—Haeckel worked on evolutionary theory and morphology, von Frisch studied how bees communicate, and Carson wrote about ecology and environmentalism—so Wheeler is the one who established the superorganism concept.