Social trait definitions influence evolutionary inferences: a phylogenetic approach to improving social terminology for bees

The comparative method relies not only on a good understanding of the phylogenetic relationships among taxa, but also on consistent terminology for describing phenotypes. Clear and consistent terminology allows similar phenotypes to be described and phylogenetically analyzed in different organisms, whereas inconsistent terminology is a major impediment to comparisons, even for taxonomically restricted groups such as bees. Here, I propose that...