This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bryan Derksen (talk | contribs) at 00:18, 20 January 2002 (links, copyediting, and social insect castes). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 00:18, 20 January 2002 by Bryan Derksen (talk | contribs) (links, copyediting, and social insect castes)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)In humans, the cast system in India was initially based on the nature of work people did. There were four main castes. Bramhins were the knowledge-workers, Kshatriyas were the warriors, Waishyas were the traders, and Shoodras were the labourers. In very old times, caste was decided by work, but later on the system disintegrated into one where caste was decided by birth. Although no longer strictly enforced in modern India, the caste system retains some degrees of social impact in various regions.
In social insects such as ants, bees and termites, a caste is a specific sub-type of an insect species which is specialized in a certain task. A common example is the "queen" and the "worker", in which queens are specialized in reproduction and the workers are specialized in feeding and protecting the queens.