"The study of social insects is rich in philosophical and practical consequences.
It fulfils the needs of the scientist who loves
the strange and the unexpected
but also and especially of those who seek to discover the essence of the most complex biological realities,
​the ultimate flowers
of the tree of life
Pierre Paul Grassé, at the opening of the IUSSI Congress in Wurzburg, 1955
"Riche en conséquences philosophiques et pratiques, apparaît l'étude des insectes sociaux. Elle comble les voeux du chercheur amoureux de l'étrange et de l'inattendu, mais aussi et surtout de celui qui essaie de découvrir l'essence des réalités biologiques les plus complexes, fleurs ultimes de l'arbre de vie."​​
Termitologist Pierre Paul Grassé (1885-1985). Image: Dictionnaire Amoureux des Fourmis.
Founding the IUSSI
The IUSSI was born in Paris in 1951, the brainchild of the German myrmecologist Karl Gösswald and the French termitologist Pierre Paul Grassé. At the International Congress of Entomology, Gosswald and Grassé agreed that there was a clear need for a dedicated society focused on the social insects.
1951 meeting
The first meeting of the German Section of the IUSSI, in 1951. For a visual guide to who's who, see here.
Nature, 1951
The inception of the IUSSI was announced in Nature in 1951.
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The society's own journal Insectes Sociaux was launched in 1954. The inaugural issue included diverse contributions, including how honeybees manage the winter, the phylogeny of ants, aggression by workers, and a study by E. O. Wilson on larval competition.​
International Congresses
To date, there have been 20 international congresses, which now occur every four years. The 20th was recently held in Freiburg in August 2026. Alongside the international congresses, the different regional sections hold regional and national conferences and symposia. The 21st congress will be held in Cape Town in 2030.
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So far, the IUSSI's international congresses have been held in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Australia.
Ant biologist Karl Gösswald (1907-1996), one of the two founders of the IUSSI.
Image: Zobodat.
1st
Paris, 1952
6th
Bern, 1969
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11th
Bangalore, 1990
16th
Copenhagen,
2010
2nd
Wurzburg, 1955
7th
London, 1973
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12th
Paris, 1994
17th
Cairns, 2014
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3rd
Paris, 1957
4th
Pavia, 1961
8th
Wageningen,
1977
9th
Boulder, 1982
13th
Adelaide, 1998
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14th
Sapporo, 2002
18th
Guaruja, 2018
19th
San Diego,
2022
5th
Toulouse, 1965
10th
Munich, 1986
15th
Washington DC, 2006
20th
Freiburg,
2026
A Cephalotes ant worker from South America, famous for flat heads that function as doors to the nest. (Image: Wheeler, 1910)
A recent analysis of the IUSSI's history by Buttstedt and coauthors (2024) highlights historic imbalances in representation between different geographical regions, and calls for 'greater inclusivity in the academic community'. To read the paper in Insectes Sociaux, see here. We are working to improve equality, diversity, and inclusion. To donate or fundraise for the Congress Travel Fund, see here.
Improving global inclusion
Contributions to IUSSI conferences, from Buttstedt et al. 2024. Reproduced under CC BY 4.0.
The Japanese Section in 1954, at the 2nd Annual Meeting, Tokyo
Further reading
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A history of the early days of the IUSSI was published by Dr Christopher Starr in 2003, in Genes, Behaviors, and Evolution of Social Insects (eds. Kikuchi, Azuma, & Higashi), and is available online.
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A detailed resource containing materials from many of the IUSSI's international congresses is maintained by Professor Alain Lenoir at Dictionnaire Amoureux des Fourmis