The behavioural adaptation in social insects could best be described as

Analyze the question The question asks which term best describes the behavioural adaptation of social insects (ants, termites, bees). These insects live in organised colonies with division of labour, cooperation, and mutual dependence.

Explain the concepts

• Symbiosis: a close living relationship between organisms in which they live together, often cooperating or depending on each other. Social insects show this kind of cooperative living, and in the JAMB context the term is commonly used for it.
• Saprophytism: feeding on dead or decaying organic matter (e.g., mushrooms, moulds). It has nothing to do with colony behaviour.
• Parasitism: one organism (the parasite) benefits at the expense of the host (e.g., tapeworm in humans).
• Commensalism: one organism benefits while the other is neither harmed nor helped (e.g., an epiphyte on a tree).

Solve step by step

1. Social insects live together in colonies with different castes: workers, soldiers, queen, drones.
2. Each caste performs a specific role, and the colony survives through cooperation and mutual benefit.
3. Saprophytism and parasitism describe feeding modes and exploitation, not cooperative group behaviour, so B and C are out.
4. Commensalism involves one-sided benefit between different species. It does not describe the cooperative living within a colony, so D is out.
5. That leaves symbiosis, the closest description of organisms living together in a mutually beneficial, interdependent way.

Answer The correct option is A. symbiosis.

A small note: strictly speaking, symbiosis usually refers to relationships between different species, while social insects cooperate within a single species. Even so, among the options given, A is clearly the best fit.

Exam tip Remember the keywords:

• Symbiosis = living together, cooperation
• Parasitism = one benefits, one harmed
• Commensalism = one benefits, other unaffected
• Saprophytism = feeds on dead matter

When an option set contains only one cooperative or "living together" term, it is usually the answer.