Mandibular shape variation among size classes in the worker ants of Pheidologeton diversus

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Research Paper 01/03/2016
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Mandibular shape variation among size classes in the worker ants of Pheidologeton diversus

Mark Anthony J. Torres, Eugene Vernon V. Tañedo Jr.
J. Bio. Env. Sci.8( 3), 137-141, March 2016.
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Abstract

The geometric morphometric approach of landmark analysis was utilized in this study to compare the shapes of the mandibles of three size classes of the ant Pheidologeton diversus. To do this, the X and Y coordinates of a total of fifty points were digitized and subjected to relative warp analysis. Results showed that the mandibular shapes of the smaller-sized ants differed significantly from those of the medium- and larger-sized classes. The observed differences can be related to the presumed roles that the ants play in their colonies.

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