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1 October 2004 Caste Flexibility and Variation according to the Colony Cycle in the Swarm-founding Wasp, Parachartergus fraternus (Gribodo) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Epiponini)
Sidnei Mateus, Fernando Barbosa Noll, Ronaldo Zucchi
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Abstract

Differences between castes and related aspects in Parachartegus fraternus (Gribodo) have been studied in various stages of the colony cycle. Five colonies from three colony development stages (namely, pre-emergence, worker-producing and male-producing) were analyzed. The main results were: irrespective of colony age, castes were always morphologically indistinguishable; non-inseminated ovary-developed females were found in four colonies; because differences of castes were physiological rather than morphological, castes are evidently post-imaginally determined and this is probably taking place according to the colony conditions. These findings support the occurrence of caste totipotency in Parachartergus fraternus.

Sidnei Mateus, Fernando Barbosa Noll, and Ronaldo Zucchi "Caste Flexibility and Variation according to the Colony Cycle in the Swarm-founding Wasp, Parachartergus fraternus (Gribodo) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Epiponini)," Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 77(4), 470-483, (1 October 2004). https://doi.org/10.2317/E-40.1
Accepted: 1 March 2004; Published: 1 October 2004
KEYWORDS
caste differences
colony cycle
Epiponini
Parachartegus fraternus
Polistinae
wasp productivity
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