Incipient morphological castes in Polistes gallicus (Vespidae, Hymenoptera).

The occurrence of a pre-imaginal caste determination represents a sort of 'point of no return' to eusociality. In some social insect taxa, including Polistes species, the occurrence of distinct queen and worker castes is still debated. Before this report, no clear morphological differences between reproductive and non-reproductive individuals were known. Here we show that several pre-imaginal morphological differences of the Van der Vecht organ occur between foundresses (queens) and workers. Geometric morphometrics revealed that queens are characterized by shape deformations of this organ, which is responsible for a typical allometric growth of the secretory area. This organ is predicted to be larger in foundresses compared to workers because its secretion is involved in defense against ants, in nestmate recognition and in preventing workers from challenging for direct reproduction. The results presented here indicate the existence of an incipient morphological caste determination Polistes gallicus and suggest that this species may have passed the 'point of no return' for eusociality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]