| Title: | "MRT letter: A novel tegumental gland in female imagoes of the neotropical termite Cornitermes cumulans (Isoptera, termitidae, syntermitinae)" |
| Author(s): | Costa-Leonardo AM; Haifig I; |
| Address: | "Departamento de Biologia, Instituto de Biociencias, Unesp--Univ Estadual Paulista, Bela Vista, Caixa Postal 199, CEP 13506-900, Rio Claro, SP, Brasil. amcl@rc.unesp.br" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1097-0029 (Electronic) 1059-910X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "In general, the exocrine glands of social insects are structures involved in the chemical communication associated with social life. Here, we report the discovery of an unknown tegumental gland that is present in the female imagoes of Cornitermes cumulans and occurs next to the well-developed tergal glands that have previously been described. The tegumental glands release their secretion in the intersegmental membrane and are composed of bicellular units, a secretory cell and a canal cell, that are closely located to the epidermal cells in the inferior part of the eighth and ninth tergites. The ultrastructure of the glandular cells showed abundant smooth endoplasmic reticulum, suggesting that the secretion may be pheromonal, although its function is still unknown. These exocrine structures are facing the tergal glands, and we hypothesized that they act synergistically with the tergal glands to generate short-range attraction during tandem behavior" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Cellular Structures/*ultrastructure Female Histocytochemistry *Isoptera/anatomy & histology/cytology/ultrastructure Life Cycle Stages Microscopy, Electron, Transmission;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineCosta-Leonardo, Ana Maria Haifig, Ives eng 2010/09/03 Microsc Res Tech. 2010 Oct; 73(11):1005-8. doi: 10.1002/jemt.20922" |
