Members of insect societies vary, in part, because of their social position (caste). The caste of an individual is usually determined by its environment. Especially important is the concentration of chemicals (pheromones) produced by the queen of the colony and sometimes also the diet an individual is fed. For instance, worker bees and queen bees in a honey bee colony are both females; female larvae develop into workers if they are fed a diet of mostly pollen and honey. If the level of pheromone (queen substance) produced by the queen drops, workers select some young larvae and feed them only a glandular secretion called royal jelly. Female larvae fed only royal jelly become queens.
Examples of insect societies: