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Allometry in the giant tropical ant, Paraponera clavata

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Summary:

Workers of the ponerine ant, Paraponera clavata, grow allometrically, with the head disproportionately larger in larger workers. The anterior (clypeus)-posterior (occiput) dimension of the head capsule is allometric with the lateral (interocular) dimension, so that larger workers have elongate heads. The degree of head capsule allometry varies among colonies; this could result either from differences in colony maturity or from variation in developmental patterns among colonies. These data resolve a previously controversial issue concerning caste in Paraponera clavata.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology, The University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0334, USA, e-mail: michael.breed@spot.colorado.edu, , , , , , US

    M.D. Breed

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  1. M.D. Breed
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Received 23 July 2001; revised 3 January 2002; accepted 24 January 2002.

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Breed, M. Allometry in the giant tropical ant, Paraponera clavata. Insectes soc. 49, 125–128 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-002-8290-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-002-8290-2

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