ASIAN
MYRMECOLOGY

online first (online version of paper published before print issue)

DOI: 10.20362/am.013004
Asian Myrmecology 13: e013004 (1-11)
article first published online: 6/August/2021

The 'hairwheels' in Strumigenys ants are not glandular

CHU WANG¹*, CHUNG-CHI LIN², ROBERTO A. KELLER³ and JOHAN BILLEN¹

Abstract:

Ants of the myrmicine genus Strumigenys are characterized by the occurrence of a number of exocrine glands that are exclusive to this genus (Bolton, 1999). One of these structures is the presumed 'mesopleural gland', although its real existence has never been documented. Examination of this conspicuous mesopleural 'hairwheel' organ in 19 Strumigenys species with further scanning microscopy and histology revealed that this structure does not contain any glandular tissue. The peculiar bristle-lined hairwheels of Strumigenys are not covering lateral cavities but are part of the typical transversal ventral groove lying behind the forecoxal insertions, present across most ants. A survey across non-Strumigenys ants using scanning microscopy showed a great variation in the shape of the cuticle and the pilosity surrounding the equivalent mesopleural area, from bare lateral openings to rudimentary hairwheel-like structures in some myrmicine genera. The precise function of the hairwheels remains unknown.

Keywords:

Mesopleural excavation, thorax, ants, exocrine glands, histology, SEM

This article is part of the Asian Myrmecology Special Issue in memorial of Christian Peeters.

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¹Zoological Institute, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, box 2466, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium

²National Changhua University of Education, Department of Biology, Changhua 50007, Taiwan, R.O.C.

³Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência & cE3c-FCUL, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

*Corresponding author: chu.wang@kuleuven.be