In 1999, Barry Bolton postulated the presence of a basimandibular gland in the mandibles in all species of the ant genus Strumigenys, solely based on scanning microscopy observations. We now confirm the presence of this putative gland in the proximal outer part of the mandibles of 22 investigated species by histological and ultrastructural examination, including 10 short- and 12 long-mandibulate species. All species have a basimandibular gland, that is formed by 15–25 µm thick epithelial cells and belongs to class-1 following the standard classification of insect exocrine glands. We consider it a novel gland because of its peculiar bowl-shape and special arrangement of the microvilli that are confined to large vacuolar spaces instead of reaching the cuticle. The gland is most pronounced in S. mutica, particularly in the queen. In addition to this gland, we also found scattered class-3 intramandibular gland cells in the mandibles. Queens of S. mutica are peculiar in having a cluster of these cells in the distal tip of their mandibles. As this species is a social parasite, further research is required to determine whether the development of these mandibular glands is related to its parasitic lifestyle.

中文翻译：

---

蚂蚁Strumigenys（膜翅目，mic科）中的新型Ba前腺的形态。

1999年，巴里·博尔顿假设一个basimandibular腺体在下颚骨的蚁属的所有物种的存在Strumigenys，仅仅基于扫描显微镜观察。现在，我们通过组织学和超微结构检查，确认了22个被调查物种的下颌骨近端外侧中存在这种假定的腺体，其中包括10个短和长畸形物种。所有物种都有一个腺下腺，由15–25 µm厚的上皮细胞形成，属于昆虫外分泌腺的标准分类，属于1类。我们认为它是一种新颖的腺体，因为其特殊的碗状形状和微绒毛的特殊排列方式被限制在较大的液泡空间中，而不是到达角质层。腺在以下地区最明显S. mutica，尤以女王为王。除了这个腺体，我们还在下颌骨中发现了散布的3类下颌内腺细胞。mut。S. mutica的女王特有的特征是在下颌骨的末端具有一簇这些细胞。由于该物种是一种社会寄生虫，需要进一步研究以确定这些下颌腺的发育是否与其寄生生活方式有关。