Occurrence and morphometry of the hypopharyngeal glands inScaptotrigona postica Lat. (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponinae) |
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Authors: | R A C Costa C Cruz-Landim |
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Institution: | (1) Departamento de Biologia, Instituto de Biociências de Rio Claro-UNESP, 13506-900 Rio Claro SP, Brasil |
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Abstract: | As compared toApis mellifera where only workers have hypopharyngeal glands, inScaptotrigona postica, these glands occur in workers, queens and males. They are composed of two long axial ducts with many unicellular secretory
alveoli interconnected by secretory canaliculi. The axial ducts are longer in males than in workers, but the alveolar areas
of queens and males are generally smaller. In workers the alveoli have their greatest size in the nurses or middle-aged individuals
while in queens and males they are larger in newly emerged individuals. The results indicate that the glands in workers may
produce food for the brood as inA. mellifera, since they are well developed in the nurse workers. However, the function of the glands in queens and males remains to be
clarified since these individuals have no part in brood care. |
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Keywords: | Morphology morphometry hypopharyngeal glands Apidae |
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