Summary
O.W. Richards recently discovered an exocrine gland that opens on the fifth (penultimate) sternite of females of many species of polybiine wasps. Recent experimental evidence indicates that this gland produces the trail pheromone used to guide the swarm during emigration to a new nest site. In the present paper we describe the morphology of the gland in four species ofPolybia as seen using light microscopy. The gland cells open via individual ducts onto the surface near the anterior margin of the sternite, where their secretion is evidently stored in a reservoir formed by the intersegmental membrane. The modifications of the sternal cuticle associated with the gland opening, which we examined in 12Polybia species using scanning electron microscopy, are of two types: in five species the gland opens into a transverse groove, while in the other seven the cuticle is raised into erect scales. There is some evidence that the groove type is correlated with larger gland size; there is only a poor correlation with larger body size.
Zusammenfassung
O.W. Richards hat in letzter Zeit eine exocrine Drüse entdeckt, deren Offnung sich am fünften (Penultimal) Sterniten von Weibchen befindet. Diese Insekten gehören zu einer ganzen Zahl von Polybiine Wespen Arten. Wir beschreiben hier die Morphologie einer Drüse, bestimmt durch Licht-Microscopie, in vier Arten vonPolybia. Die Drüsenzellen haben individuelle Offnungen an der Oberfläche des Sterniten, wo ihre Absonderung in einem von der intersegmentalen Membrane Behälter aufgehoben wird.
Die Anderungen in der sternalen Cuticula, wo sich die Drüsenöffnung befindet, wurden in 12Polybia Arten mit dem Elektronen-mikroskop untersucht. Wir fanden 2 Typen von Anderungen: bei 5 Arten öffnet sich die Drüse in eine transverse Rinne, und bei 7 Arten bildet die Cuticula aufrechte Schuppen. Es hat den Anschein daß Drüsen dort grösser sind wo Rinnen vorkommen, obwohl das Insekt an sich nicht grösser ist.
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Jeanne, R.L., Post, D.C. Richards' gland and associated cuticular modifications in social wasps of the genusPolybia Lepeletier (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae, Polybiini). Ins. Soc 29, 280–294 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02228757
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02228757