In the context of evoutionary devolopment, the (hypothetical?) existence of "ground plans" provides a framework for understanding evolution of complex biological order from more simple systems: fundamental regulatory architectures that govern pleiotropic interlinkage between traits in simple systems can be exploited, providing "building-blocks" from which the complex systems can be assembled.

This paper is about one ground plan, proposed to underlie the emergence of complex social life in insects. Its fundament is solitary reproductive architectures.

I want to discuss questions like - to what extent can this principle be generalized? How many ground plans can there be? Are ground plans in conflict with the concept of novelty? What is the relationship between ground plans and the concept of constrains in evolution?