I am posting this without comment: 

> With the goal of creating a more open and inclusive scientific culture in the study of social insects, suggestions are made about word choice in publications on social insects. Scientists must acknowledge that the use of words with major human cultural associations can deter students and colleagues from engaging our field, and that students may feel emotionally harmed by the use of words like “slave” in scientific contexts. 

> Specific reference in this commentary is made to the applications of slavery, caste, race, and social parasite, which have been used to describe aspects social insect biology. Cleptotecton, meaning stolen work, is suggested as a substitute term for slave, and cleptotectonic for slave-making. The use of geographic descriptors is also discussed. Better, and less culturally loaded, vocabulary is available for these concepts, and authors should reflect on the impacts of word choice on the community of social insect scientists.

> Some commonly used words in the vocabulary of the social insect literature, such as slave, social parasite and caste, could have negative connotations in human social interactions. This language could severely impact people as they learn about the field by triggering negative emotions, cultural (Eyerman 2004) or generational trauma, and may be perceived as outrightly hateful. These words may also prevent scientists from pursuing research that may become emotionally loaded because of the terminology or even drive students from the field.

Breed, M.D. The importance of words: revising the social insect lexicon. Insect. Soc. (2020).

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