The Structure And Chemical Component Of Dufour’s And Venom Gland In Camponotus Jamponicus

Ants are highly developed social organization insects in terrestrial ecosystems, and every individual in their social life is playing the best function. The success of the ants on the ecology is due to their highly developed social organization which is based on chemical communication. Ants have extremely developed exocrine system, and these systems have involved in every aspect of their social life. Dufour’s gland and venom gland are the two most developed glands which connected with the female reproductive organs, and they play an important role in defense, foraging, information exchange and reproduction. Their morphology and main chemical compositions are different among different species of ants, even different castes of the same species. In this study we use optical microscope, SEM,TEM and GC-MS methods observed and analyzed the morphology and chemical components of the Dufour’s and venom glands in different castes of camponotus jamponicus. The results are as follows:1. The morphology of Dufour’s and venom glands in different castes showed that the Dufour’s glands have characteristic bilobed shape, and there are similar in shape and size among different castes, but show slightly differents in external surface and color among castes. Overall, the Dufour’s glands of the major and minor worker are more similar, and those of gyne and queen are similar. The cells that form the glandular epithelium of the Dufour’s gland are characterized by abundant mitochondria and lamellar material. The basement membrane is about 0.3-0.4 μm thickness and it shows numerous deep invaginations.The venom gland consists of the venom sac and a convoluted gland with bifurcating free tubuls, and its shape is same among different castes. The venom sac is elongated with thin walls formed by polygonal cells and lined with a thick cuticular layer with polymorphic nucleus, and the cytoplasm contains numerous mitochondria and a prominent end apparatus. Its inner surface is a pleated sheet structure.2. The chemical components of Dufour’s gland and venom gland by GC-MS showed that there are more than 30 kinds of substances are detected in the secretion of Dufour’s gland, mainly including alkanes, alcohols and esters. Undecane is the highest levels of ingredients in all castes. There are more than 30 kinds of substances are found in the secretion of venom gland, mainly including alkanes, alcohols, esters and phenols. The chemical components is obviously diffirent between workers and reproductive ants(alate female and the queen), but there are similar between major and minor workes, and also similar between alate female and the queen.3. The bacteria associated with Dufour’s gland and venom gland showed that 10 bacterial species were isolated from Dufour’s gland and 5 bacterial species from venom gland with culturing method. While 6 bacterial genera were detected in Dufour’s gland and 3 bacterial genera in venom gland with 16 S rRNA-RFLP method and Candidatus Blochmannia is the dominant bacterium in both two glands.4. The bacteriostasis experiment of the secretions from two glands showed that there is no antibacterial activity of the secretion of Dufour’s gland for the four bacterium strains(two Gram-positive bacteria and two Gram-negative bacteria), and there is only the secretion of venom gland shows antibacterial activity for the aerobacter, and the bacteriostatic radius is about 1.4 cm.