Abstract
A great diversity of exocrine glands is found in social insects. The main social function of exocrine glands is the production of pheromones, which are related to the maintenance of social organization of the colony, as interactions of dominance, maintenance of queen status, recruitment for food, search for nesting sites, defense, and reproductive behaviors, among other aspects. The exocrine glands can be classified into two types (class 1 and class 3) according to their structural arrangement. Some of them are common to all social insects, occurring in males and females (e.g., mandibular and salivary glands). Others are characteristic of a taxon, as the van der Vecht and Richards glands, found only in vespids of the Vespidae family. An overview about the structure, location, and, whenever possible, function of the exocrine glands of Neotropical social wasps is presented here. Future studies considering large and more detailed morphological analyses, together with information on the chemical aspects of the produced secretions, are desirable for a broader understanding of the function of the pheromones produced by the exocrine glands in the social wasps.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Akre RD (1982) Social Wasps. In: Hermani H (ed) Social insects, Vol. IV. Academic Press, New York, pp 1–105
Billen J (1987) New structural aspects of the Dufour’s and venom glands in social insects. Naturwissenschaften 74:340–341
Billen J (1991) Ultrastructural organization of the exocrine glands in ants. Ethol Ecol Evol special issue 1:67–73
Billen J (2009a) Occurrence and structural organization of the exocrine glands in the legs of ants. Arthropod Struct Dev 38:2–15
Billen J (2009b) Diversity and morphology of exocrine glands in ants. Proceedings of the 19th Symposium of the Brazilian Myrmecological Society, Ouro Preto (Brasil), pp 1–6
Billen J (2011) Exocrine glands and their key function in the communication system of social insects. Formosan Entomol 31:75–84
Billen J, Morgan ED (1998) Pheromone communication in social insects – sources and secretions. In: Vander Meer RK, Breed MD, Winston ML, Espelie KE (eds) Pheromone communication in social insects: ants, wasps, bees, and termites. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 3–33
Billen J, Noll FB (2011) Morphology of Richards’ gland in the wasp Metapolybia docilis. Sociobiology 58:251–255
Blum MS (1982) Pheromonal bases of insect sociality: communication, conundrums and caveats. In: Les Médiateurus Chimiques. INRA Publications, Versailles, pp 149–162
Corn ML (1972) Notes on the biology of Polistes carnifex (HymenopteraVespidae) in Costa Rica and Colombia. Psyche 79:150–157
Da Silva M, Noll FB, Billen J (2015) Morphology of Richards’ gland in the swarm-founding wasp Protonectarina sylveirae (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Acta Zool 96:530–533
Dani F, Cervo R, Turillazzi S (1992) Abdomen stroking behaviour and its possible functions in Polistes dominula (Christ) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Behav Process 28:51–58
Dani FR, Jones GR, Morgan DE, Turillazzi S (2003) Reevaluation of the chemical secretion of the sternal glands of Polistes social wasps (Hymenoptera Vespidae). Ethol Ecol Evol 15:73–82
Dapporto L, Dani FR, Turillazzi S (2007a) Social dominance molds cuticular and egg chemical blends in a paper wasp. Curr Biol 17:R504
Dapporto L, Santini A, Dani FR, Turillazzi S (2007b) Workers of a Polistes paper wasp detect the presence of their queen by chemical cues. Chem Senses 32(8):795–802
Dapporto L, Petrocelli I, Turillazzi S (2011) Incipient morphological castes in Polistes gallicus (Vespidae, Hymenoptera). Zoomorphology 130:197–201
Darchen R (1976) Ropalidia cincta, guêpe sociale de la savane du Lampto (Cote d’Ivoire). Annls Soc ent Fr 12:579–601
de Souza AR, Petrocelli I, Lino-Neto J, Santos EF, Noll FB, Turillazzi S (2016) Ontogenic caste differences in the Van der Vecht organ of primitively eusocial Neotropical paper wasps. PLoS One 11(5):e0154521
Delfino G, Marino Piccioli MT, Calloni C (1979) Fine structure of the glands of Van der Vecht’s organ in Polistes gallicus (L.) (Hymenoptera Vespidae). Mon Zool Ita 13:221–247
Downing HA (1991) The function and evolution of exocrine glands. In: Ross KG, Matthews RW (eds) The social biology of wasps. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, pp 540–569
Downing HA, Post DC, Jeanne RL (1985) Morphology of sternal glands in male polistine wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Ins Soc 32:186–197
Gamboa GJ, Heacock BD, Wiltjer SL (1978) Division of labor and subordinate longevity in foundress associations of the paper wasp, Polistes metricus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). J Kans Entomol Soc 51:343–352
Grimaldi D, Engel M (2005) Evolution of the insects. Cambridge University Press, New York and Cambridge, 755p
Hermann HR, Dirks TF (1974) Sternal glands in polistine wasps: morphology and associated behavior. J Ga Entomol Soc 9:1–8
Hermann HR, Dirks TF (1975) Biology of Polistes annularis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). I. Spring behavior. Psyche 82:97–108
Heselhaus F (1922) Die Hautdrusen der Apiden und ver-wandter. Formen Zool Jahrb Abt Anat Ontog Tiere 43:369–464
Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (1990) The ants. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 732p
Hunt JH, Jeanne RL, Keeping MG (1995) Observations on Apoica pallens, a nocturnal Neotropical social wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Polistinae, Epiponini). Ins Soc 42:223–236
Jeanne RL (1970) Chemical defense of brood by a social wasp. Science 168:1465–1466
Jeanne RL (1975) The adaptiveness of social wasp nest architecture. Q Rev Biol 50:267–287
Jeanne RL (1981) Chemical communication during swarm emigration in the social wasp Polybia sericea (Olivier). Anim Behav 29:102–113
Jeanne RL (1982) Evidence for an alarm substance in Polistes canadensis. Experientia 38:329–330
Jeanne RL (1991) The swarm-founding Polistinae. In: Ross KG, Matthews RW (eds) The social biology of wasps. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, pp 191–231
Jeanne RL (1996) Non-allometric queen-worker dimorphism in Pseudopolybia difficilis. J Kansas Entomol Soc 69:370–374
Jeanne RL, Post DC (1982) Richards’ gland and associated cuticular modifications in social wasps of the genus Polybia (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae: Polybiini). Insects Sociaux 29:280–294
Jeanne RL, Downing HA, Post DC (1983) Morphology and function of sternal glands in polistine wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Zoomorphology 103:149–164
Keeping MG (1990) Rubbing behavior and morphology of van der Vecht's gland in Belonogaster petiolata (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). J Insect Behav 3:85–104
Kojima J (1983) Defense of the pre-emergence colony against ants by means of a chemical barrier in Ropalidia fasciata (Hymenoptera, VespidaeJ). Jpn J Ecol 33:213–223
Kojima J (1992) The ant repellent function of the rubbing substance in an Old World polistine. Parapolybia indica (Hymenoptera Vespidae). Ethol Ecol Evol 4:183–185
Landolt PJ, Akre RD (1979) Occurrence and location of exocrine glands in some social Vespidae (Hymenoptera). Ann Entomol Soc Am 72:141–148
Litte M (1976) Self, kin and social behavior in the polistine wasp Mischocyttarus mexicanus. PhD thesis. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, 242 pp
Litte M (1979) Mischocyttarus flavitarsis in Arizona: social and nesting biology of a polistine wasp. Z Tierpsychol 50:282–312
Litte M (1981) Social biology of the polistine wasp Mischocyttarus labiatus: survival in a Colombian rain forest. Smithson Contrib Zool 327:1–27
London KB, Jeanne RL (2000) The interaction between mode of colony founding, nest architecture and ant defense in polistine wasps. Ethol Ecol Evol 12:13–25
Naumann MG (1975) Swarming behavior: evidence for communication in social wasps. Science 189:642–644
Noirot C, Quennedey A (1974) Fine structure of insect epidermal glands. Annu Rev Entomol 19:61–80
Noirot C, Quennedey A (1991) Glands, gland cells, glandular units: some comments on terminology and classification. Annl Soc Ent Fr 27:123–128
Matsuura M, Yamane S (1990) Biology of the Vespine wasps. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 330p
O’Donnell S, Jeanne RL (1990) Forager specialization and the control of nest repair in Polybia occidentalis Olivier. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 27:359–364
Petrocelli I, Turillazzi S (2013) The morphology of Van der Vecht’s organ as a tool to measure caste dimorphism in Polistes paper wasps: a comparative approach. J Zool Syst Evol Res 51:274–278
Post DC, Jeanne RL (1980) Morphology of the sternal glands of Polistes fuscatus and P. canadensis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Psyche 87:49–58
Post DC, Jeanne RL (1981) Colony defense against ants by Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in Wisconsin. J Kans Entomol Soc 54:599–615
Post DC, Jeanne RL (1982) Sternal glands in three species of male social wasps of the genus Mischocyttarurs (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). New York Entomological Society 90:8–15
Post DC, Jeanne RL (1983a) Sternal glands in males of six species of Polistes (Fuscopolistes) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). J Kans Entomol Soc 56:32–39
Post DC, Jeanne RL (1983b) Male reproductive behavior of the social wasp Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Z Tierpsychol 62:157–171
Raposo-Filho JR, Calloni C, Delfino G (1994) Structural and ultrastructural features of the glands in the VI and VII gastral sternites of female Mischocyttarus (Kappa) atramentarius Zikán 1949 (Hymenoptera Vespidae). Ethol Ecol Evol 6:47–52
Richards OW (1971) The biology of the social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Biol Rev 46:483–528
Richards OW (1978) The social wasps of the Americas excluding the Vespinae. British Museum (Natural History), London, 580p
Samacá E, Billen J, Sarmiento CE (2013) Morphology of the fifth sternal glands of Neotropical social wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae). Invertebr Biol 132(2):163–172
Schoeters E, Billen J (1995a) Morphology and ultrastructure of the convoluted gland in the ant Dinoponera australis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Int J Insect Morphol Embryol 24:323–332
Schoeters E, Billen J (1995b) Morphology and ultrastructure of a secretory region enclosed by the venom reservoir in social wasps (Insecta, Hymenoptera). Zoomorphology 115:63–71
Smith AR, O’Donnell S, Jeanne RL (2001) Correlated evolution of colony defence and social structure: a comparative analysis in eusocial wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Evol Ecol Res 3:331–344
Smith AR, O’Donnell S, Jeanne RL (2002) Evolution of swarm communication in eusocial wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). J Insect Behav 15:751–764
Turillazzi S (1979) Tegumental glands in the abdomen of some European Polistes (Hymenoptera Vespidae). Monit Zool Ital 13:67–70
Turillazzi S, Ugolini A (1978) Nest defense in European Polistes (Hymenoptera Vespidae). Monit Zool Ital 12:72
Turillazzi S, Ugolini A (1979) Rubbing behaviour in some European Polistes (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Monit Zool Ital 16:75–88
Van der Vecht J (1965) The geographical distribution of the social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Proc. XII Int. Congr. Ent, London, pp 440–441
Van der Vecht J (1968) The terminal gastral sternite of female and worker social wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Proc K ned Akad Wet 71:411–422
Wenzel JW, Carpenter JM (1994) Comparing methods: adaptive traits and tests of adaptation. In: Eggleton P, Vane-Wright R (eds) Phylogenetics and ecology. Academic Press, London, pp 79–101
West-Eberhard MJ (1969) The social biology of polistine wasps. Misc Publ Mus Zool Univ Mich 140:1–101
West-Eberhard MJ (1982) The nature and evolution of swarming in tropical social wasps (Vespidae, Polistinae, Polybiini). In: Jaisson P (ed) Social insects in the tropics, vol 1. Universit’e de Paris-Nord, Paris, pp 97–128
West-Eberhard MJ (1989) Scent-trail diversion, a novel defense against ants by tropical social wasps. Biotropica 21:280–281
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
da Silva, M., Noll, F.B., Billen, J. (2021). Sternal Exocrine Glands in Neotropical Social Wasps. In: Prezoto, F., Nascimento, F.S., Barbosa, B.C., Somavilla, A. (eds) Neotropical Social Wasps. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53510-0_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53510-0_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-53509-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-53510-0
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)