Comments on: Homology Weekly: Mouthparts

By: Homology weekly: Prognathy | Archetype

Homology weekly: Prognathy | Archetype — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:14:41 +0000

[...] where I had to explain a diagnostic characteristic of ants during the introduction. As I have mentioned before, ants are peculiar among wasps and bees in that their mouthparts are directed forward, rather than [...]

By: Homology Weekly: Clypeus | Archetype

Homology Weekly: Clypeus | Archetype — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:42:10 +0000

[...] border of the clypeus is involved in two important articulations relating to the movement of the mouthparts. The central part forms a wide hinge with the mouth’s “lid” or labrum, allowing [...]

By: Homology (Bi)Weekly: Dentiform Labral Setae | Archetype

Homology (Bi)Weekly: Dentiform Labral Setae | Archetype — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:53:30 +0000

[...] setae (that is, especially modified hairs), the lid that closes the insect’s mouth called labrum can bear identical structures. The image above shows two of these specialized teeth-like pieces (in [...]

By: Devin Bowen

Devin Bowen — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:11:39 +0000

ahhh, thanks for this info. I have about 7 sitting in 200 proof. I’ll check them out. I’m an undergrad interested in specializing in ants.

My school’s SEM isn’t working so I’m not going to be needing to CPD them. I’m just using the dissector to get pics for a project.

thanks again!

By: The internet has things in it « Myrmecos Blog

The internet has things in it « Myrmecos Blog — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:33:51 +0000

[...] Roberto Keller explains ant mouths. [...]

By: Roberto Keller

Roberto Keller — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:31:11 +0000

Devin - I start from specimens stored in ethanol (96%). Fishing around under the stereoscope, most of the time you will find one that got fixed with the mouthparts distended. If this was the case, the mouthparts will not collapse during air-drying. Still it is a good idea to leave the ant in fresh 96% ethanol for 10 to 15 minutes before placing it on its back over a piece of filter paper (coffee filter paper works fine) and away from the strong heat of the stereoscope light, so evaporation occurs slowly. If I can't find a specimen with its mouthparts naturally extended, if all in the sample decided to die without doing me a favor (bastards), I just directly dissect the mouthparts out (the labiomaxillary complex goes out in one piece in hymenopterans at least), air-dry them, and place them in SEM stubs. In any event, I never had to submit the mouthparts through the tedious step of critical-point drying (CPD) before the scanning electron microscopy. If you need to distend the mouthparts in situ, clearing whole specimens in hot 10% KOH for a few minutes will sometimes do the trick. However, the skeleton may become too soft and won't retain its shape when dried unless you use CPD. Check out this recent paper for some other clearing techniques that may do the trick (I haven't try them myself): Stüben, M. & Linsenmair, K.E. 2008. Advances in insect preparation: bleaching, clearing and relaxing ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecol. News 12: 15-21; published Online Earlier 6 October 2008 pdf here. Hope this helps.

By: Devin Bowen

Devin Bowen — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:19:13 +0000

Awesome blog! These are GREAT photos illustrating the mouth parts. Previously I’ve only seen the drawings in The Ants.

Question: how to you distend the mouth parts when mounting specimens? I’ll take a reference if you don’t want to explain it.

By: Roberto Keller

Roberto Keller — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:32:23 +0000

I’m not sure about the one of the best blogs around comment, but I’m glad some people find these posts interesting. Wait a second, you are posting there too…

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 04:23:34 +0000

Apparently, Roberto, you have a fan base.