title: Ontogenic Caste Differences in the Van der Vecht Organ of Primitively Eusocial Neotropical Paper Wasps.
abstract: Recent studies have reported incipient morphological caste dimorphism in the Van der Vecht organ size of some temperate Polistes paper wasps. Whether species other than the temperate ones show a similar pattern remains elusive. Here, we have studied some Neotropical Polistes species. By comparing females collected through the year, we showed caste related differences in the size of the Van der Vecht organ in P. ferreri (body size corrected Van der Vech organ size of queens = 0.45 ± 0.06, workers = 0.38 ± 0.07 mm2, p = 0.0021), P. versicolor (body size corrected Van der Vech organ size of queens = 0.54 ± 0.11, workers = 0.46 ± 0.09 mm2, p = 0.010), but not P. simillimus (body size corrected Van der Vech organ size of queens = 0.52 ± 0.05, workers = 0.49 ± 0.06 mm2, p = 0.238). Therefore, it seems that queens and workers of some Neotropical Polistes have diverged in their ontogenic trajectory of the Van der Vecht organ size, providing clear evidence for incipient morphological caste dimorphism. As Polistes are distributed mostly in the tropics, we propose that physical caste differences may be widespread in the genus. Also, we highlight that morphological divergence in the queen-worker phenotypes may have started through differential selection of body structures, like the Van der Vecht organ.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, 36570-000, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: André Rodrigues
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica 'Leo Pardi', Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italy.
authors.forename: Iacopo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Petrocelli
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, 36570-000, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lino-Neto
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoologia e Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho", 15054-000, São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eduardo Fernando
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoologia e Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho", 15054-000, São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando Barbosa
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Noll
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica 'Leo Pardi', Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Turillazzi
mesh_terms: D000825:Animal Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D049628:Body Size; D005260:Female; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D016014:Linear Models; D009929:Organ Size; D012919:Social Behavior; D014329:Tropical Climate; D014863:Wasps / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*