THE HYMENOPTEROUS POISON APPARATUS. 
VI. CAMPONOTUS PENNSYLVANICUS 
(HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) 
By Henry R. Hermann and Murray S. Blum 
University of Georgia, Athens 
METHODS AND MATERIALS 
Workers of Camponotus pennsylvanicus were collected in Baton 
Rouge, La., in 1966 and 1967. Glandular and reservoir regions 
were examined for morphological details after dissection of live 
specimens in normal saline. Sclerites were removed from the 
abdomen, dehydrated in ethyl alcohol, cleared in xylene and mounted 
in Permount. Some apparatuses were examined whole while the 
individual sclerites g! others were disarticulated and examined indi- 
vidually. 
For preparations of histological sections, glands were removed in 
normal saline, dehydrated in ethyl alcohol, cleared in xylene and 
embedded in Paraplast. Tissue was sectioned at 10 microns, stained 
with Delafield’s hematoxylin and eosin Y, and mounted on slides 
with Permount. All measurements for illustrations are in millimeters. 
In preparation for chemical analysis, poison sacs were dissected 
from workers which had been relatively immobilized by storing them 
at 4°C for several hours. The glands were rinsed in distilled water 
and the venom was transferred to filter paper by puncturing the 
reservoir with a fine needle. 
The venom-impregnated filter papers were subsequently treated 
with several diagnostic organic agents including Fehling’s reagent, 
2, 4-dinitrophenylhydrazine and ninhydrin. Ultimately, a large 
series of compounds present in the poison gland secretion were re- 
solved by applying the contents of fifty glands to the origin of 14I/2" 
X 13" sheets of Whatman #1 filter papers. The venomous constitu- 
ents were analyzed by .two-dimensional chromatography by employ- 
ing w-butanol: acetic acid: water (4:1:1) as the first phase (17 hr) 
(Reed, 1950) and 80% aqueous pyridine as the second (8 hr) 
(Flavin and Anfinsen, 1954). The compounds were detected by 
spraying the papers with 0.2% ninhydrin in acetone following which 
the chromatograms were heated at iOO°C for 10 minutes. Standard 
mixtures of amino acids were run as controls in the same cabinet 
as the venom-treated paper and in some cases amino acid mixtures 
were co-chromatographed with the poison gland contents. 
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