INVESTIGADORES
TORRENS javier
artículos
Título:
The Pronotum of Worker of Camponotus borellii Emery 5 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): How Can It Affect Performance 6 of the Head, Work Division, and Development of the Worker Caste?
Autor/es:
ALVARO GALBÁN; FABIANA CUEZZO; JAVIER TORRÉNS
Revista:
NEOTROPICAL ENTOMOLOGY
Editorial:
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOC BRASIL
Referencias:
Lugar: BRASIL; Año: 2020
ISSN:
1519-566X
Resumen:
In polymorphic ants,whose workers display continuous size distribution, each subcaste occupies aphenotypic space, usually  with diffusemorphological boundaries. These morphological differences are closelyassociated to size by allometry although the environment also plays a key rolethat affects the fitness of the species. In Camponotus borellii Emery, thespecies selected as a study model, workers exhibit a continuous increase insize; geometric morphometric (GM) was used over four morphological traits: headcapsule, clypeus, pronotum, and mesosoma, in order to assess (1) changes inshape, among the worker caste; (2) the influence of allometry on such changes;and (3) pronotum shape in respect to the head so as to infer which factors mayinfluence the polymorphic development of the worker caste. The resultsindicated that the pronotum is organized into two highly integrated  functional modules (neck and shield),corresponding to one developmental module. GM shows a similar pattern to thatobtained for linear morphometry, though the worker ratio was different alongcontinuous size distribution due to shape changes in two traits, with are alsouseful for delimitingmodular units: (1) rounded shape of the posterior regionof the head in minor workers; (2)  shapeof the pronotum, especially its anterior region, henceforth, neck, which widensas a consequence of the higher development of its central region, henceforth,shield, in major workers. The relevance of these results is discussed regardingfunctional morphology (pronotum in relation to the head), work division, anddevelopment of the worker caste.