Abstract
The intramandibular gland II in Polybia emaciata Lucas is described. This species is among the few that uses mud for nest construction, and their nests persist for a long time following abandonment. The intramandibular gland II has been found in single representatives of the genera Mischocyttarus, Apoica and Leipomeles, and this record is the second for the genus Polybia. Despite expectations derived from the nest characteristics of the species, gland dimensions such as cell diameter were well within the range observed for other species, with the cell number even comparatively small. Gland function remains to be investigated.
Highlights
Exocrine glands have a major role in insect social life, because these glands regulate communication, social structuring, and nest construction of colonies, among other behaviors (Billen & Morgan, 1998)
For our results to be more comparable with previous publications (Penagos-Arévalo et al, 2015) and because foragers are the caste involved in nest construction, foragers of Polybia emaciata were net-collected from Silvania, a farmland municipality in Cundinamarca, Colombia (4°24 ́19.7”N, 74° 22 ́30.9”W, 1475 m.a.s.l.)
As described by Penagos-Arévalo et al (2015) for other species, the intramandibular gland II is a class 3 exocrine organ located inside the mandibles at the mesal and ectal sides close to the denticles
Summary
Exocrine glands have a major role in insect social life, because these glands regulate communication, social structuring, and nest construction of colonies, among other behaviors (Billen & Morgan, 1998). A notorious characteristic of this species, shared only with four other congeneric species of the Polistinae, is the use of mud for the nest; these nests persist for a long time even after being abandoned (Rau, 1933; Skutch, 1971; ODonnell & Jeanne, 2007). This persistence may be attributed to the mudsaliva mixture used in nest construction (Schremmer, 1984). Given the results of Schremmer (1984) on nest composition and characteristics, which require extensive chewing and processing behaviors from the wasps, we agreed with the proposed role of the head glands in determining the characteristics of the nest materials for this species. In addition to the salivary glands, palpal and mandibular glands occur and may have a function
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