Morphology of the Dufour gland within the honey bee sting gland complex

Stephen J. Martin , Vicky Dils , Johan Billen

The Dufour gland in the honeybee exits between the sting lancets. The exit is very narrow and indistinct, and is in the same position in both the queens and workers of the both Apis mellifera and Apis cerana. The gland's exit is close to the setosa membrane, a region of cuticle, which acts as a platform for pheromone release. This is consistent with the idea that the Dufour gland secretes compounds that are utilised in defence by workers or reproduction in queens.

Mots clés: Dufour gland; sting; morphology; Apis; honeybee

Domaines: Zoologie des invertébrés; Biodiversité; Ecologie, Environnement; Science des productions animales

Stephen J. Martin, Vicky Dils, Johan Billen. Morphology of the Dufour gland within the honey bee sting gland complex. Apidologie, 2005, 36 (4), pp.543-546. ⟨hal-00892164⟩