Johnson C A, Vander Meer R K, Lavine B
Graduate School & University, Center of the City University of New York, Hunter College, New York 10021, USA.
J Chem Ecol. 2001 Sep;27(9):1787-804. doi: 10.1023/a:1010456608626.
Queens of the slave-maker ant, Polyergus breviceps, take over nests of their Formica host species by fatally attacking the resident queen. As workers only begin grooming the P. breviceps queen once she has ceased her attack, we investigated whether a change in parasite queen chemistry may account for the change in worker behavior. Cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of newly mated P. breviceps queens and of queens of their two Formica host species were found to be species-specific. Profiles of newly mated P. breviceps queens that had attacked a Formica queen, however, were virtually identical to the queen profile of the species killed. Mass spectral analysis revealed that the hydrocarbons on the cuticles of newly mated P. breviceps changed from primarily normal alkanes to methyl and di-methyl branched alkanes after attacks. The results suggest that cuticular compounds from the host queen were transferred to the parasite queen during their aggressive interaction.
奴役蚁Polyergus breviceps的蚁后通过致命攻击宿主蚁种Formica的蚁后，接管其巢穴。由于只有当Polyergus breviceps蚁后停止攻击后，工蚁才开始梳理它，我们研究了寄生虫蚁后化学特征的变化是否可以解释工蚁行为的改变。研究发现，新交配的Polyergus breviceps蚁后及其两种Formica宿主蚁种的蚁后的表皮碳氢化合物谱具有物种特异性。然而，攻击过Formica蚁后的新交配的Polyergus breviceps蚁后的谱与被杀死物种的蚁后谱几乎相同。质谱分析表明，新交配的Polyergus breviceps蚁后表皮上的碳氢化合物在攻击后从主要是正构烷烃转变为甲基和二甲基支链烷烃。结果表明，在激烈的相互作用过程中，宿主蚁后的表皮化合物转移到了寄生虫蚁后身上。
