Histochemistry of the mucus gland of Bombus morio Swedurus,1787 (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

The male mucus gland is present in all species of bees, exception for meliponines. In bees, the function of themucus glands is not certain so far and its contribution to form the female espermatecal fluid is not assured.With the aim to contribute to the knowledge of the mucus gland in bees we carried out a histochemical studyof the gland in mature, adult males of Bombus morio, focusing on the histochemical nature of the secretion.The males were collected around the forest fragments into UFSCar, Campus Sorocaba. The glands werefixed and analysed under routine microscopy and for histochemistry techniques: Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS),Bromophenol Blue (BB), Sudan Black (SB) and Critical Electrolyte Concentration (CEC) variant. The resultsshowed that the mucus gland is constituted by a pair of large, thick tubular structures, which presented theirdistal portion more dilated and corn shaped. The glandular cells are columnar and in the apical portion presentseveral apocrine vesicles being released into the gland lumen. The histochemistry showed that gland secretionis very complex and contains protein (BB), neutral polysaccharide (PAS), as well as lipid (SB). The luminalgland secretion presents a background of homogenous content, presenting little dark dots stained by alltechniques used for this work. The investigation of the nucleolar activity (CEC) showed that the mucus glandepithelium is evolved in protein synthesis, presenting nucleoli developed and much RNA in the cytoplasm.

Morphological, chemical and developmental aspects of the Dufour gland in some eusocial bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae): a review

Morphological, chemical and developmental aspects of the Dufour gland in some eusocial bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae): a review. The present revision focused on the more recent data about the Dufour gland in some eusocial bees, taking in account general aspects of its morphology, secretion chemical nature, bio-synthetic pathway and development. Many functions have been attributed to this gland in eusocial bees, but none are convincing. With the new data about this gland, not only the secretion chemical pathway of the Dufour gland may be reasonable understood, as its function in some eusocial bees, especially Apis mellifera Linné, 1758, which has been extensively studied in the last years.

Aspectos morfológicos, químicos e do desenvolvimento da glândula de Dufour em algumas abelhas eussociais (Hymenoptera, Apidae): revisão. Esta revisão aborda os mais recentes dados sobre a glândula de Dufour em algumas abelhas eussociais, considerando aspectos gerais da sua morfologia, do seu desenvolvimento, da natureza química da sua secreção, assim como sua via bio-sintética. Muitas funções têm-se atribuído à glândula de Dufour nas abelhas eussociais, mas nenhuma suficientemente convincente. Os novos dados a respeito dessa glândula permitem não só conhecer razoavelmente bem a via bio-sintética como a função da secreção da glândula de Dufour em algumas abelhas eussociais, especialmente em Apis mellifera Linné, 1758, a qual tem sido extensivamente estudada nos últimos anos.