Social behavior and climate change: how rising temperatures shape insect societies

Eusocial insects are master regulators of their thermal environments, using collective behaviors to thrive in diverse and extreme climates. Nevertheless, accelerating climate warming threatens to destabilize insect societies, due to the temperature-dependence of behaviors that underpin group organization and functioning. Here, we synthesize recent advances in our understanding of temperature effects on social behavior, focusing on the eusocial bees, wasps, ants, and termites, and scaling from individual behaviors to group-level processes. We highlight evidence that warming temperatures can disrupt foraging behavior, compromise the stability of social interactions, and exceed the capacity for nest thermoregulation. To find general patterns and understand evolutionary consequences of these effects, we need more long-term studies, research that incorporates fitness measurements, and a greater focus on tropical species, as well as understudied taxa like wasps and termites. Subtle behavioral shifts could unravel finely balanced social interactions, with cascading effects on colony fitness and ultimately ecosystem functioning. • Social insects can use behavior to cope with warming, but this may be costly. • Warming can disrupt foraging, social interactions, and development. • Warming effects are least understood for wasps, termites, and tropical species. • Long-term impacts of warming on colony fitness remain unclear.