FUNCTION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ABDOMINAL SUBSTANCE SECRETED BY WASPS OF THE GENUS PARISCHNOGASTER (HYMENOPTERA STENOGASTRINAE)

SUMMARY The abdominal substance secreted by the females of five species of Parischnogaster (Hymenoptera Stenogastrinae) has various functions. It is used by the females to handle the egg at the moment of oviposition, it becomes the substratum and a protection for the young larva, it serves as a dish for the larval food and the place where reserves of liquid food for the colony are stored. In some species of Parischnogaster the substance is very probably the same as that used to construct the ant guards, sticky barriers against cursorial predators, with the possible addition of different secretions from the mouth.