Function of exocrine gland substances in topical ants

对亚洲热带和亚热带蚂蚁外分泌腺的形态和功能进行了研究。主要研究结果如下：1.对几种新的蚂蚁外分泌腺的形态进行了观察和描述。2.对日本林蛙的食谱进行了调查，发现蚂蚁是其主要捕食对象。以日本水母和其他真实捕食者为研究对象，对部分蚂蚁防御物质的功能进行了研究。3.在Diacamma sp.中，工作人员对卵巢发育的个体的警戒行为的发生表明，角质层物质可能是警戒行为的关键刺激。4.在温带地区，具有年度生活周期的老年常社会性膜翅目雌性往往主导较年轻的雌性，这一行为在许多Polistes人中表现出来。然而，在没有女王的黄蚁和原始的共生热带黄蜂(多年生/热带)中，年轻的雌性可以占据主导地位，偶尔会取代年长的、最具优势的繁殖雌性阿尔法。基于角质层物质的个体年龄评估可能是这些行为的可能机制之一。运用包容性适应度模型研究了这些模式在其生活史中的适应意义。5.在热带森林中，蚂蚁经常吃脊椎动物分散的植物种子周围的果肉。在西爪哇观察到杂食性蚂蚁的种子清洗行为。通过对桃金娘种子的田间清洗试验表明，桃金娘的抗真菌作用不仅仅是去除果肉所致，而且桃金娘的种子清洗行为抑制了真菌孢子和菌丝的生长。我们建议工作人员在果肉和种子表面涂抹抗真菌物质。这样的物质可能是在下颌腺体中产生的。

Morphology and functions of exocrine glands in Asian tropical and subtropical ants were investigated. Main results were as follow. 1. Morphology of some novel exocrine glands of ants was investigated and described. 2. Food menu of the Japanese treefrog Hyla japonica was investigated and ants were main prey items. Function of defense substances of some ants was examined by using Hyla japonica and other real predators. 3. In Diacamma sp., the occurrence of worker policing toward individuals with developing ovaries was demonstrated Cuticular substances might be possible key stimuli for the policing behavior. 4. In temperate regions, older eusocial Hymenopteran females with annual life cycles tend to dominate younger females, a behavior demonstrated by many Polistes. However, in queenless ponerine ants and primitively eusocial tropical wasps (perennial/tropical), a younger female can be dominant and occasionally takes over from the older, most dominant reproductive female, the alpha. Assessment of individual age based on cuticular substances might be one of the possible mechanisms of these behaviors. Adaptive significance of these patterns in their life history was investigated by using an inclusive fitness model. 5. In tropical forests, ants frequently consume fruit pulps around seeds of vertebrate-dispersed plants. Seed cleaning behavior by omnivorous ants was observed in West Java. Field experiments on seed cleaning by the myrmicinae ant P. plagiaria revealed that the anti-fungal effect was not merely caused by removal of fruit pulps, and that seed cleaning behavior by P. plagiaria inhibited the development of spores and hypha of fungi. We suggest that the workers apply anti-fungal substances to the fruit pulp and seed surface. Such substances might be produced in mandibuler glands.