Social insects are characterized by the presence of an extremely well developed system of exocrine glands performing different functions such as secretion of enzymes, antibiotics,... Many of these glands produce pheromonal substances involved in communication. Although functionally diverse, exocrine glands can be divided in two types based on their morphology, the bicel- lular type and the epithelial one, which can both contain a reservoir. The main aim in the submitted project is to make a thorough comparative functional-morphological study of the exocrine glands of M. pharaonis in order to improve our knowledge of the communication system of these tramp ants. This might find application in pest control development. We plan to perform the proposed project in collaboration with Dr. Borgesen who has done pioneer work in this field. Her unpublished data together with the results of our dissertaion work provide a promising start.