Soft Cap

Aside from kin selection,
Another social forcer
Of ant and bee phenotypes

Appears to be insulin.
Various ant, honeybee,
And wasp larvae can emit

Chemical cocktails that drop
Workers’ insulin levels,
While low insulin, in turn,

Keeps them from ovulating.
Queens, meanwhile, produce buckets
Of insulin and lay eggs.

Jack up workers’ insulin
And even after millions
Of years of selfless nursing,

They’ll start trying to lay eggs.
That’s how close to the surface
Of eusociality

Antisocial striving lies.
Tug on one genetic thread—
The sweater, the comforter,

The tale-spinning tapestry
Unravel. Society
At every level consists

Of barely restrained desires
To exploit society,
And don’t say you don’t feel it.