Social insect nestmates often differ in thermal tolerance (the range of temperatures at which an individual functions). Worker thermal physiology can covary with body size, development, genetics and gene expression. Because colonies rely on the integration of diverse colony members, individual thermal tolerance differences can affect group performance. The weak link hypothesis states that if workers differ in thermal sensitivity, then in variable thermal environments colonies can incur performance costs due to thermal stress effects on the most thermally sensitive worker types. We discuss possible adaptive colony responses that ameliorate the costs of thermal weak links. Individual differences in thermal tolerance have profound implications for the effects of temperature variation and climate change on animal societies. Social implications of worker weak links potentially drive macroecological patterns in caste ergonomics.

社交昆虫的巢伙伴通常在热耐受性（个体起作用的温度范围）方面有所不同。工人的热生理会随体型，发育，遗传学和基因表达而变化。由于菌落依赖于不同菌落成员的整合，因此个体的热耐受性差异会影响群体表现。弱链接假设指出，如果工人的热敏度不同，则在变化多端的热环境中，由于热应力对大多数热敏工人类型的影响，菌落会产生性能成本。我们讨论了可能减轻热弱连接成本的适应性菌落反应。温度耐受性的个体差异对温度变化和气候变化对动物社会的影响具有深远的影响。