Artigo
Discrete dimorphism among castes of the bald-faced hornet Dolichovespula maculata (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in different phases of the colony cycle
Fecha
2009-01-01Registro en:
Journal of Natural History. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis Ltd, v. 43, n. 39-40, p. 2482-2491, 2009.
0022-2933
10.1080/00222930903154763
WOS:000269923000003
8347131704153687
0000-0003-0207-1067
Autor
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
Ohio State Univ
Resumen
Morphological and physiological caste differences were compared from colonies of Dolichovespula maculata in middle and late phases of the colony cycle. The females showed three patterns of ovarian development and only females classified as queens were inseminated. In both phases, queens were larger than workers for most measures. Discriminant analyses showed high distinction of caste in both phases. We also found highly pronounced qualitative differences: workers had hairs covering the entire body whereas queens had no hair and also some colour differences in the gaster. These results indicate that D. maculata presents pre-imaginal differentiation as seen in other Vespinae, and that size variation occurs from colony to colony such that queens of one colony may be comparable to workers of a different colony although the castes are always distinguishable within colonies.