Ultrastructure of the intramandibular gland of workers and queens of the stingless bee, Melipona quadrifasciata

Made available in DSpace on 2013-08-28T14:12:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 WOS000294252200001.pdf: 823278 bytes, checksum: 5866186b8b4a7aa42801618999e6fb81 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2013-09-30T18:46:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 WOS000294252200001.pdf: 823278 bytes, checksum: 5866186b8b4a7aa42801618999e6fb81 (MD5) WOS000294252200001.pdf.txt: 27878 bytes, checksum: f61ad572f13502bb5c6c9131b6550d0f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-24 Submitted by Vitor Silverio Rodrigues (vitorsrodrigues@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2014-05-20T13:55:53Z No. of bitstreams: 2 WOS000294252200001.pdf: 823278 bytes, checksum: 5866186b8b4a7aa42801618999e6fb81 (MD5) WOS000294252200001.pdf.txt: 27878 bytes, checksum: f61ad572f13502bb5c6c9131b6550d0f (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-20T13:55:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 WOS000294252200001.pdf: 823278 bytes, checksum: 5866186b8b4a7aa42801618999e6fb81 (MD5) WOS000294252200001.pdf.txt: 27878 bytes, checksum: f61ad572f13502bb5c6c9131b6550d0f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-24 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) The intramandibular glands of workers and queens of Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier (Hymenoptera: Apidae), at different ages and from different functional groups, were studied using light and transmission electron microscopy. The results demonstrated that these glands are composed of two types of secretory structures: 1. A hypertrophied epidermis on the dorsal side of the mandible that is an epithelial gland. 2. Free secretory cells filling the inner spaces of the appendices that constitute a unicellular gland. The epithelial gland is larger in the young (1-2-day-old workers), and the gland becomes involuted during the nurse worker stage. The unicellular glands of the workers posses some secretion during all of the studied phases, but secretory activity is more intensive in the foraging workers. Vesicles of secretion are absent in the unicellular glands of queens. These results demonstrate that these glands show functional adaptations in different castes corresponding to the functions of each caste. Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias Rio Claro, Dept Biol, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, Brazil Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Lab Biol Estrutural & Func, BR-18052780 Sorocaba, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias Rio Claro, Dept Biol, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, Brazil