Institut für Zoologie und Evolutionsforschung, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany.
Laboratório de Biologia Comparada e Abelhas, Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP), Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
J Morphol. 2024 Aug;285(8):e21751. doi: 10.1002/jmor.21751.
Although the knowledge of the skeletal morphology of bees has progressed enormously, a corresponding advance has not happened for the muscular system. Most of the knowledge about bee musculature was generated over 50 years ago, well before the digital revolution for anatomical imaging, including the application of microcomputed tomography. This technique, in particular, has made it possible to dissect small insects digitally, document anatomy efficiently and in detail, and visualize these data three dimensionally. In this study, we document the skeletomuscular system of a cuckoo bee, Thyreus albomaculatus and, with that, we provide a 3D atlas of bee skeletomuscular anatomy. The results obtained for Thyreus are compared with representatives of two other bee families (Andrenidae and Halictidae), to evaluate the generality of our morphological conclusions. Besides documenting 199 specific muscles in terms of origin, insertion, and structure, we update the interpretation of complex homologies in the maxillolabial complex of bee mouthparts. We also clarify the complicated 3D structure of the cephalic endoskeleton, identifying the tentorial, hypostomal, and postgenal structures and their connecting regions. We describe the anatomy of the medial elevator muscles of the head, precisely identifying their origins and insertions as well as their homologs in other groups of Hymenoptera. We reject the hypothesis that the synapomorphic propodeal triangle of Apoidea is homologous with the metapostnotum, and instead recognize that this is a modification of the third phragma. We recognize two previously undocumented metasomal muscle groups in bees, clarifying the serial skeletomusculature of the metasoma and revealing shortcomings of Snodgrass' "internal-external" terminological system for the abdomen. Finally, we elucidate the muscular structure of the sting apparatus, resolving previously unclear interpretations. The work conducted herein not only provides new insights into bee morphology but also represents a source for future phenomic research on Hymenoptera.
尽管对蜜蜂骨骼形态的了解已经取得了巨大的进展，但肌肉系统的相应进展却没有发生。大多数关于蜜蜂肌肉系统的知识是在 50 多年前产生的，远在解剖成像的数字革命之前，包括微计算机断层扫描的应用。特别是这项技术使得对小昆虫进行数字解剖、高效详细地记录解剖结构以及对这些数据进行三维可视化成为可能。在本研究中，我们记录了一种杜鹃蜂（Thyreus albomaculatus）的骨骼肌肉系统，并以此提供了蜜蜂骨骼肌肉解剖学的三维图谱。我们将 Thyreus 的结果与另外两个蜜蜂科（切叶蜂科和叶蜂科）的代表进行了比较，以评估我们形态学结论的普遍性。除了记录 199 块特定肌肉的起源、插入和结构外，我们还更新了对蜜蜂口器的咀嚼-唇基复合体中复杂同源结构的解释。我们还澄清了头部颅内骨骼的复杂 3D 结构，确定了悬带、下颚和后颏结构及其连接区域。我们描述了头部内侧提升肌的解剖结构，准确识别了它们的起源和插入，以及它们在其他膜翅目昆虫中的同源物。我们否定了 Apoidea 的特化后胸三角形与后胸突同源的假说，而是认为这是第三膈膜的一种变体。我们在蜜蜂中识别出两个以前未记录的后生肌肉群，阐明了后生体的连续骨骼肌肉系统，并揭示了 Snodgrass 用于腹部的“内部-外部”术语系统的不足之处。最后，我们阐明了蜇刺器的肌肉结构，解决了以前不清楚的解释。本文所进行的工作不仅为蜜蜂形态学提供了新的见解，而且为膜翅目昆虫的未来表型研究提供了资源。
