Venom gland and reservoir morphology in the Doryctinae and related braconid wasps (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Braconidae)

Abstract

Detailed venom reservoir and venom gland intima morphology has been investigated in reprsentatives of 84 genera and 10 subfamilies of Braconidae with particular reference to the Doryctinac, basal cyclostomes and related groups including the Opiinae, Alysiinae and Rogadinae sens. lat. Several new phylogenetically significant characters are described and illustrated. Extcnsivc secretory ductules on the primary venom duct is suggested as a synapomorphy for the subfamilies Braconinac, Doryctinae, Opiinae, Alysiinae and Gnamptodontinae. The presence of two separate venom gland insertions and their position beyond the spiral sculpture of the reservoir are suggested as synapomorphies for the subfamilies Doryctinae and Ypsistocerinac. An anterior, weakly sclerotized, probably glandular. expansion of the reservoir characterizes the Histeromerinae and Rhyssalinae and also the enigmatic genera Thoracoplites Fischer and Doryctomorpha Ashmead which are hcre transferred to the Rhyssalinae. Within the Doryctinac, venom reservoir morphology suggests three generic groups, one comprising the genera of the Odontohraconini and possibly also the genera Acanthodoryctes, Binareu and Monarea, all of which have an essentially undivided reservoir with extremely fine and uniform spiral sculpture. the second comprising the genera Doryctophasmus, Euscelinus, Gildoria, Halycea and Schlettereriella, which share horn‐like processes at the base of the venom duct insertions, and a third including Acrophasmus. Dendro‐ soter, Heterospilus, Megaloproctus, Rutheia, Paraspathius, Schlettereriella. Spathius and Syngaster based on the presence of two markedly different densities of annulation of the reservoir. The degree to which external and other characters support these groups is discusscd.

Ovipositor structure and relationships within the Hymenoptera, with special reference to the Ichneumonoidea

“…162) are of particular interest because their subfamily placements have been uncertain for some while. Recent work on the internal venom apparatus (Quicke et al 1992d) and ovipositor apex structure (Quicke et al 1992a) has shown that both Doryctomorpha and Thoracoplites do not fit well in Doryctinae where both had been placed previously, but instead appear to belong to Rhyssalinae which, along with Histeromerinae, includes some of the most primitive of braconid genera. Ovipositor sections for Rhyssalinae and Histeromerinae (Figs 160 and 161) show the upper valve to to be divided with the two halves only connected by a thin bridge, which in the case of Histeromerus is no more than virtually unsclerotized notal membrane.…”

Venom apparatus of the endoparasitoid wasp Opius caricivorae Fischer (Hymenoptera: Braconidae): Morphology and ultrastructure

“…Although there are many studies on parasitized host's physiological and behavioral alterations, the morphology and ultrastructure of parasitoid wasp's venom apparatus has only been investigated in a few families, and these studies have been largely restricted to the morphology of venom apparatus of braconid wasps (Edson and Vinson, 1979;Edson et al, 1982;Pan and Chen, 2003;Quicke et al, 1992Quicke et al, , 1997Robertson, 1968;van Merle and Piek, 1986;Zaldivar-Riveron et al, 2004). Robertson (1968) analyzed the morphology of the venom apparatus of 17 species of Hymenoptera.…”

“…Edson et al (1982) studied the ultrastructure of venom apparatus by examining nine species that represented seven subfamilies of Braconidae. Quicke et al (1992) investigated the venom reservoir and venom gland morphology in the Doryctinae and related braconid wasps. Quicke et al (1997) compared the morphology of the venom apparatus in the Opiinae and Alysiinae (Braconidae) and Zaldivar-Riveron et al (2004) surveyed the venom apparatus in the Rogadinae and related cyclostome taxa including the description of a novel putative valve type.…”

A supracellular system of actin-lined canals controls biogenesis and release of virulence factors in parasitoid venom glands

“…Despite this functional diversity, the organization of the secretory unit appears to be conserved among species with very different lifestyles. Secretory units from venom glands of the free-living Apis mellifera (Roat et al, 2006), the gall-inducer cynipoid wasps (Vårdal, 2006), and other parasitoids (Edson et al, 1982;Quicke et al, 1992;Uçkan, 1999;Gnatzy and Volknandt, 2000;Britto and Caetano, 2003;Wan et al, 2006;Zhu et al, 2007) have previously been reported. Interestingly, Noirot and Quennedey (Noirot and Quennedey, 1974) have described similar canals in the class III epidermal gland cells from many insects, using conventional microscopy techniques.…”