A Comparative Survey of the Sting of Aculeate Hymenoptera

Abstract

It is the purpose of this survey to briefly review the earlier studies of hymenopteran stings, the terminologies and homologies of their parts, and to compare the gross anatomy of skeletal and muscular features of stings from a sampling of aculeate Hymenoptera. Although it is not intended hereby to demonstrate the utility of the sting in classification, taxonomists are urged to further investigate the apparatus. It is well known that Forel (1878) used the relative development of the sting In ants to separate the Camponotlnae and Dolichoderinae, although other characters are now used to separate these subfamilies. In addition, Cholodhosky (1884) employed the sting in separating some species of Bombus The sting of the aculeate hymenopteron has intrigued two centuries of entomologists. Students of morphology have long pondered the homologies of the female genitalia of insects, including In their studies a few aculeate stings, and only lately have considered the homologies of the male genitalia. By contrast, the taxonomists of the aculeates have practically ignored the sting but have commonly included the male genitalia in species descriptions. Thus, anatomical accounts of stings are available for a few common species, but descriptions for the various genera are lacking. This situation arises from the conservative nature of the sting with Its functionally necessary parts as compared to the diverse manifestations of the male copulatory apparatus. Many features of the biology of an aculeate are reflected in the structure of the sting. Should the various forms of the sting prove reliable in classification, the sting would deserve as much consideration as other fundamental parts of the aculeate, such as wings and thorax, in reconstructing phylogeny.