Morphological variations in the pre-imaginal development of the ponerine ant Diacamma ceylonense |
| |
Authors: | Sébastien Baratte Matthew Cobb Jean Deutsch Christian Peeters |
| |
Institution: | CNRS UMR 7625, Laboratoire d'Ecologie, UniversitéPierre-et-Marie Curie, 7 quai Saint Bernard, F-75005 Paris, France;;Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, United Kingdom;;CNRS UMR 7622, Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement, UniversitéPierre-et-Marie Curie, 7 quai Saint Bernard, F-75005 Paris, France |
| |
Abstract: | In the present paper, the larval development of the queenless ponerine ant Diacamma ceylonense is studied. Four instars were identified on the basis of cuticular processes – tubercles and spinules – which show discontinuous variation during growth and provide precise and reliable external morphological criteria for instar discrimination. In the first three instars, the larva possesses a striking proboscis, which disappears between the third and fourth instars. Larval weight increased around 50‐fold in the 21 days of larval life between eclosion and pupation (mean weight for first instar = 0.37 mg; for fourth instar = 20 mg). In addition, the morphology of the gemmae, structures resembling vestigial wings in workers, is described in nymphae. |
| |
Keywords: | cuticular process gemma instars larval development spinule tubercle |
|
|