Khalife A, Billen J, Economo EP. Evidence of a thoracic crop in workers, soldiers, and queens of Carebara perpusilla ants (Formicidae: Myrmicinae).
THE SCIENCE OF NATURE - NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 2023;
110:36. [PMID:
37462726 DOI:
10.1007/s00114-023-01866-5]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
The ability to share and store food is paramount in group-living animals, allowing a finely tuned distribution of resources over time and individuals and an enhanced survival over periods of food scarcity. Ants have several ways to store food: one of them is their gastral crop, also known as a "social stomach." Nutrients in the crop can be regurgitated to nestmates through oral trophallaxis (mouth-to-mouth) or proceed to the midgut by opening the proventriculus, a valve connecting the crop to the midgut. However, some ants are also known to have a so-called "thoracic crop," an extension of the esophagus that allows for additional storage space. In this study, we provide the first evidence of a thoracic crop in the genus Carebara, in reproductive (queen) and sterile (soldier and worker) castes. We discuss how the ant body plan allowed for the evolution of a novel food storage structure in the mesothorax.
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