Apidologie

, Volume 46, Issue 1, pp 23–34 | Cite as

Morphology of mandibular and intramandibular glands in workers and virgin queens of Melipona scutellaris

  • Douglas Elias Santos
  • Edmilson Amaral de Souza
  • Carlos Ueira Vieira
  • José Cola Zanuncio
  • José Eduardo Serrão
Original article
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

The interactions of insect societies are associated with chemical signals released by the exocrine glands that control some insect behaviors. Exocrine glands can be classified into different classes: class I release substances that cross the body cuticle and class III glands that have a conducting canal. This study compares the morphology of intramandibular and mandibular glands in virgin queens of different ages, as well as in nurses and forager workers of Melipona scutellaris. We have found the occurrence of two types of glands inside the mandible; glands of class I, corresponding to a well-developed epithelium, secretory only in virgin queens, and glands of class III. On the other hand, mandibular glands have been found to be well-developed in workers and queens and they also have high amounts of mitochondria and smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Together, these data show that the mandibular and intramandibular glands of M. scutellaris virgin queens have morphological features that indicate the synthesis of compounds that are lipid in nature. Furthermore, both glands have a similar developmental degree in newly emerged and 7-day-old ones.

Keywords

head glands Melipona communication behavior virgin queen 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Brazilian Research Agencies National Council of Research (CNPq) and Minas Gerais State Research Agency (FAPEMIG). Authors are grateful to Nucleus of Microscopy and Microanalysis (UFV) for technical assistance.

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Copyright information

© INRA, DIB and Springer-Verlag France 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Douglas Elias Santos
    • 1
  • Edmilson Amaral de Souza
    • 2
  • Carlos Ueira Vieira
    • 3
  • José Cola Zanuncio
    • 4
  • José Eduardo Serrão
    • 1
  1. 1.Departamento de Biologia GeralUniversidade Federal de ViçosaViçosaBrazil
  2. 2.Departamento de BiologiaUniversidade Federal de ViçosaRio ParanaíbaBrazil
  3. 3.Instituto de Genética e BioquímicaUniversidade Federal de UberlândiaUberlândiaBrazil
  4. 4.Departamento de Biologia AnimalUniversidade Federal de ViçosaViçosaBrazil

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