Billen, J. & Wang, C.

Intramandibular glands in ants

This review documents the occurrence of 11 exocrine glands that have been discovered inside the mandibles of ants in the past three decades. Among these, the ventrolateral intramandibular gland and the distal blade mandibular gland represent novel findings. The high number of intramandibular glands urged for an updated revision of the terminology of gland names that we provide here. Contrary to this diversity, the majority of the glands occurs in a single species or genus and thus reflects a narrow phylogenetic distribution. Glands formed by both epithelial class-1 cells and by bicellular units of class-3 cells are found, but none with reservoirs. Although reports of reservoir-containing epithelial glands in ant mandibles have been published in literature, these represent erroneous observations of sensillar structures. The function of most intramandibular glands remains unknown and requires further study. This review updates the currently known exocrine repertoire of ants to 115 described glands.

Open access, licensed under CC BY 4.0. © 2025 The Author(s).

Hymenoptera, Formicidae, mandibles, morphology, ultrastructure, review