Department of Evolutionary Biology, "L. Pardi", Università di Firenze, Italy.
Arthropod Struct Dev. 2012 May;41(3):259-64. doi: 10.1016/j.asd.2012.02.007. Epub 2012 Mar 6.
The sting is the most effective defense of social Hymenoptera against vertebrate predators but in the hover wasps (subfamily Stenogastrinae) it is scarcely used. In these wasps a quite enlarged Dufour's gland and the extensive use of its secretion in the peculiar rearing of the larvae and defense determined important morphological modifications of the sting structure. Connecting anatomical and morphological data with behavioral observations we determined that in these wasps the Dufour's gland secretion is attached to the egg during oviposition but can be also channeled to the outside via the sting when it is collected by adult females for larval rearing or construction of the nest ant guards. The anatomical modifications of the sting reduced the function of the sting as a defensive weapon in hover wasps.
蛰刺是社会膜翅目昆虫防御脊椎动物捕食者最有效的手段，但在悬停蜂（ Stenogastrinae 亚科）中几乎不使用。在这些蜂中，Dufour 腺显著增大，其分泌物在幼虫的特殊饲养和防御中广泛使用，导致蛰刺结构发生了重要的形态变化。我们将解剖学和形态学数据与行为观察相结合，确定在这些蜂中，Dufour 腺的分泌物在产卵时附着在卵上，但当成年雌蜂为幼虫饲养或建造蚁巢防御而收集时，也可以通过蛰刺排出到体外。蛰刺的解剖学变化降低了悬停蜂中蛰刺作为防御武器的功能。
