Young Larvae ofVeromessor Pergandei(Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae)

[摘要] Time was when it seemed every myrmecologist wanted to work onVeromessor pergandei, but we can find no mention of it in the lasteight years ofZoological Record. When we lived with it in DeathValley and southern Nevada it became one of our favorite ants.To differentiate instars we would like the following specimens: afirst instar inside an egg; a second instar inside a first instar that isready to moult; a third instar inside a second ready to moult; etc; amature larva; a prepupa. Fortunately ourV. pergandeimaterialmeets all the requirements, except the first.V. pergandeiis polymorphic,which presents another problem: when does subcaste differentiationbegin? How can one tell whether a small larva is theyoung of a major or a mature of a minim; or whether a mediumsizedlarva is the mature of an intermediate worker or the halfgrownlarva of a major? InV. pergandeisubcaste differencesapparently begin in the fourth instar and are manifested only in size.V. pergandeipresents another problem: there are two bodyshapes for mature worker larvae. We have no explanation for this.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）