兵蚁和工蚁是白蚁中的非生殖品级，兵蚁是由工蚁分化产生。为了探讨兵蚁品级性腺不育的原因以及兵蚁和工蚁性腺发育的差异，采用组织学染色观察与测量方法对尖唇散白蚁Reticulitermes aculabialis Tsai et Hwang的兵蚁和工蚁的卵子发生各阶段进行比较和分析。结果显示：两者性腺发育大小呈极显著性差异（P＜0.01），兵蚁与工蚁卵巢横切面面积之比约为1∶7；兵蚁的卵子发生与工蚁相比，仅有卵母细胞的分化期，没有生长期；兵蚁的卵母细胞比工蚁的小，两者的分化期卵母细胞体积之比约为1∶16。该结果表明工蚁向兵蚁转化过程中性腺进一步退化，兵蚁性腺极度退化使其丧失了成为补充繁殖蚁的可能性。该研究结果为兵蚁不能生殖提供组织学上的证据，同时又揭示了兵蚁和工蚁在潜在生殖能力差异方面的组织学基础。

Soldiers and workers are non-reproductive castes in the termite, Reticulitermes aculabialis Tsai et Hwang. Soldiers develop from workers.We used a histological dyeing method to observe the oogenesis of soldiers and workers and to explore the difference in gonad development between these castes and the reason for the soldiers’ sterility.The results show that gonad size was significantly different in these two castes (P＜0.01) and that the sectional area of workers’ ovaries was 7 times that of soldiers.Compared with workers,there was only a differentiation stage in oogenesis in soldiers and no growth stage.Soldiers’ oocytes were significantly smaller than those of workers at the differentiation stage; the volume ratio (soldier:worker) being 1∶16.These results prove that further degradation of the ovary occurs as workers become soldiers causing soldiers to lose their potential reproductive ability.Our results provide histological evidence for soldiers’ sterility,and also show that there is a histological basis for the difference in potential reproductive capacity between soldiers and workers.