Function of exocrine gland substances in topical ants

研究了亚洲热带和亚热带蚂蚁外分泌腺的形态和功能。主要结果如下。 1. 研究并描述了一些新型蚂蚁外分泌腺的形态。 2.对日本树蛙Hyla japonica的食物菜单进行了调查，蚂蚁是主要猎物。通过使用日本雨蛙和其他真实的捕食者来检查一些蚂蚁的防御物质的功能。 3. 在 Diacamma sp. 中，工作人员对卵巢发育中的个体进行警务的情况被证明，角质层物质可能是警务行为的关键刺激因素。 4. 在温带地区，具有一年生命周期的年长的社会性膜翅目雌性往往会主导年轻的雌性，许多马蜂都表现出这种行为。然而，在无蚁后的松蚁和原始社会性热带黄蜂（多年生/热带）中，年轻的雌性可以占据主导地位，并且偶尔会取代年长的、最具主导性的生殖雌性（阿尔法）。基于角质层物质对个体年龄的评估可能是这些行为的可能机制之一。通过使用包容性适应性模型研究了这些模式在其生活史中的适应性意义。 5. 在热带森林中，蚂蚁经常吃脊椎动物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洁行为。通过田间蚁P. plagiaria的种子清洗实验发现，其抗真菌作用不仅仅是去除果肉，而且P. plagiaria的种子清洗行为抑制了真菌孢子和菌丝的发育。我们建议工作人员在果肉和种子表面涂抹抗真菌物质。这些物质可能是在下颌腺中产生的。

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.