Morfologia e fisiologia comportamental da glândula dufour de paraponera clavata (Fabricius, 1775) (Hymenoptera: formicidae, paraponerinae)

Abstract

Ants make up the Formicidae family, they have an extremely developed exocrine system. Exocrine secretions are known to develop acts such as alarm and defense, trail, sexual attraction and others. This study aims to describe the morphology and histology of the Dufour gland of Paraponera clavata (Fabricius, 1775), as well as observe the behavioral functionality of this gland. The workers were collected in the village of Condave, 3rd district of Caxias, Maranhão, Brazil and transferred to the Myrmecology Laboratory/LAMIR, Campus Caxias/UEMA. For morphological and histological analyses, the specimens were cryoanesthetized and fixed in petri dishes with paraffin. The glands were fixed, dehydrated in an ethanol gradient and embedded in historesin JB-4, then polymerized, sectioned and stained. For functional studies of Dufour's gland secretion, the following were carried out: i. Trail test ii.Alarm and defense test. For the trail test, an acrylic arena was made, divided into twoparallel trails (T1- 20 Gland from each nest +Hexane and T2- Hexane), with only one specimen released into the arena. To carry out the alarm tests, there were extractions (T1- 20 Gland + Hexane and T2- Hexane). Then the workers were released into a container lined with filter paper and covered with a transparent glass lid. For every three ants released into the arena, one was highlighted in the gaster region. With the histological results of the Dufour gland of P. clavata, it was It is possible to observe that this is like a simple tube, composed of a glandular epithelium, formed by a single layer of columnar secretory cells. During the behavioral tests, the act “Dobrougaster”wasobservedinallnests,whichisabehaviorrelatedtoalarmand defense in ants. The results obtained provided insight into the workers'Dufour gland, as well as behavioral responses indicating the probable function of this gland.