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Ecdysteroid production during caste differentiation in larvae of the ant, Plagiolepis pygmaea

ABSTRACT. Variations in ecdysteroids were measured by radio‐immunoassay in worker‐biased and queen‐biased larvae of the ant Plagiolepis pygmaea Latr. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) during late larval development, i.e. from the end of winter diapause up to the prepupal period. At the end of diapause, larvae are bipotential and, depending on culture conditions, can become either queens or workers. Ecdysteroid profiles revealed that there are striking differences between the two castes: worker larvae showed high titres during their development, queen larvae had low titres over the same period.