Flagellar Sensilla of Females of Selected Species of Vespidae (Hymenoptera)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Mississippi State University Scholars Junction Theses and Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 5-1-2009 Flagellar sensilla of females of selected species of Vespidae (Hymenoptera) Andrew Oliver McCaskill Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td Recommended Citation McCaskill, Andrew Oliver, "Flagellar sensilla of females of selected species of Vespidae (Hymenoptera)" (2009). Theses and Dissertations. 2307. https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/2307 This Graduate Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Scholars Junction. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Junction. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLAGELLAR SENSILLA OF FEMALES OF SELECTED SPECIES OF VESPIDAE (HYMENOPTERA) By Andrew Oliver McCaskill A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Mississippi State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Science in Entomology in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology Mississippi State, Mississippi May 2009 FLAGELLAR SENSILLA OF FEMALES OF SELECTED SPECIES OF VESPIDAE (HYMENOPTERA) By Andrew Oliver McCaskill Approved: _________________________________ Gerald T. Baker Professor of Entomology (Director of Thesis) _________________________________ Richard L. Brown Professor of Entomology (Committee Member) _________________________________ Peter W. K. Ma Associate Professor of Entomology (Committee Member) _________________________________ Clarence Collison, Professor and Head, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology & Graduate Coordinator _________________________________ Melissa J. Mixon Interim Dean of College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Name: Andrew Oliver McCaskill Date of Degree: May 2, 2009 Institution: Mississippi State University Major Field: Entomology Major Professor: Dr. Gerald Baker Title: FLAGELLAR SENSILLA OF FEMALES OF SELECTED SPECIES OF VESPIDAE (HYMENOPTERA) Pages in Study: Candidate for Degree of Master of Science Little information regarding the flagellar sensilla of the Vespidae, particularly Polistes, exists in the literature. A variety of social behaviors in vespids, such as alarm pheromones and pheromone response, involve intraspecific communication. Therefore, an understanding of sensory receptors in social wasps would benefit further behavioral and neurological studies of wasps. The flagellar sensilla of female paper wasps Polistes dorsalis, Polistes metricus, and the solitary wasp Monobia quadridens were examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. A number of olfactory receptors, contact chemoreceptors, and mechanoreceptors were named and described. Possible functions of these receptors were proposed based on morphological and ultrastructural data for each type of sensillum. Counts of several sensilla were made over the whole of five flagellae of each species and results were compared among species, flagellomeres, medial and lateral surfaces. DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this research to my wife, Miranda, and to my parents, Dan and Ann McCaskill. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author expresses sincere gratitude to those who have given their assistance in this research, and without whom this thesis would not have been possible. I would like to thank Dr. Gerry Baker for his guidance and expertise throughout my graduate program. I would also like to thank my thesis committee, Dr. Richard Brown, Dr. Peter Ma, and Dr. Clarence Collison, for their assistance with my research. I would like to thank Dr. Jan DuBein for assistance with the statistical analyses. Finally, I would like to thank Bill Monroe, Amanda Lawrence, and Richard Kuklinski of MSU EM Center for their assistance with my electron microscopy work. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1 II. MATERIALS AND METHODS .................................................................6 SEM Methods ..................................................................................6 TEM Methods ..................................................................................7 Statistical Methods ...........................................................................8 III. RESULTS ....................................................................................................9 IV. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................18 V. CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................24 VI. TABLES ....................................................................................................25 VII. FIGURES ...................................................................................................34 REFERENCES CITED ......................................................................................................51 iv LIST OF TABLES 1 Total Sensilla Basiconica A by Species .................................................................25 2 Sensilla Basiconica A on Polistes metricus by Surface .........................................25 3 Sensilla Basiconica A on Polistes dorsalis by Surface ..........................................25 4 Sensilla Basiconica A on Monobia quadridens by Surface ...................................26 5 Sensilla Basiconica A on Polistes metricus by Flagellomere ................................26 6 Sensilla Basiconica A on Polistes dorsalis by Flagellomere .................................26 7 Sensilla Basiconica A on Monobia quadridens by Flagellomere ..........................27 8 Total Plate Organs by Species ...............................................................................27 9 Plate Organs on Polistes metricus by Surface .......................................................27 10 Plate Organs on Polistes dorsalis by Surface ........................................................27 11 Plate Organs on Monobia quadridens by Surface .................................................28 12 Plate Organs on Polistes metricus by Flagellomere ..............................................28 13 Plate Organs on Polistes dorsalis by Flagellomere ...............................................28 14 Plate Organs on Monobia quadridens by Flagellomere ........................................29 15 Total Sensilla Campaniformia by Species .............................................................29 16 Sensilla Campaniformia on Polistes metricus by Surface .....................................29 17 Sensilla Campaniformia on Polistes dorsalis by Surface ......................................29 18 Sensilla Campaniformia on Monobia quadridens by Surface ...............................30 19 Sensilla Campaniformia on Polistes metricus by Flagellomere ............................30 v 20 Sensilla Campaniformia on Polistes dorsalis by Flagellomere .............................30 21 Sensilla Campaniformia on Monobia quadridens by Flagellomere ......................31 22 Total Pit Organs by Species ...................................................................................31 23 Pit Organs on Polistes metricus by Surface ...........................................................31 24 Pit Organs on Polistes dorsalis by Surface ............................................................31 25 Pit Organs on Monobia quadridens by Surface .....................................................32 26 Pit Organs on Polistes metricus by Flagellomere ..................................................32 27 Pit Organs on Polistes dorsalis by Flagellomere ...................................................32 28 Pit Organs on Monobia quadridens by Flagellomere ............................................33 vi LIST OF FIGURES 1 Monobia quadridens antenna. ................................................................................34 2 Polistes dorsalis antenna........................................................................................34 3 Polistes metricus antenna. ......................................................................................34 4 Significant differences in s. basiconica A by flagellomere. M. quadridens. ........35 5 Significant differences in s. basiconica A by flagellomere. P. dorsalis. ..............35 6 Significant differences in s. basiconica A by flagellomere. P. metricus. ............35 7 Significant differences in plate organs by flagellomere. M. quadridens. .............36 8 Significant differences in plate organs by flagellomere. P. dorsalis. ...................36 9 Significant differences in plate organs by flagellomere. P. metricus. ..................36 10 Significant differences in pit organs by flagellomere. M. quadridens. .................37 11 Significant differences in pit organs by flagellomere.