Steiner Florian M, Schlick-Steiner Birgit C, Nikiforov Alexej, Kalb Roland, Mistrik Robert
Institute of Zoology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Gregor Mendelstr. 33, A- 1180 Vienna, Austria.
J Chem Ecol. 2002 Dec;28(12):2569-84. doi: 10.1023/a:1021496305308.
Cuticular hydrocarbons were extracted from workers of 63 different nests of five species of Tetramorium ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Austria, Hungary, and Spain. The GC-MS data were classified (data mining) by self-organizing maps (SOM). SOM neurons derived from primary neuron separation were subjected to hierarchical SOM (HSOM) and were grouped to neuron areas on the basis of vicinity in the hexagonal output grid. While primary neuron separation and HSOM resulted in classifications on a level more sensitive than species differences, neuron areas resulted in chemical phenotypes apparently of the order of species. These chemical phenotypes have implications for systematics: while the chemical phenotypes for T. ferox and T. moravicum correspond to morphological determination, in T. caespitum and T. impurum a total of six chemical phenotypes is found. Three hypotheses are discussed to explain this disparity between morphological and chemical classifications, including in particular the possibility of hybridization and the existence of cryptic species. Overall, the GC-MS profiles classified by SOM prove to be a practical alternative to morphological determination (T. ferox, T. moravicum) and indicate the need to revisit systematics (T. caespitum, T. impurum).
从来自奥地利、匈牙利和西班牙的五种猛蚁属蚂蚁（膜翅目：蚁科）的63个不同蚁巢的工蚁中提取了表皮碳氢化合物。通过自组织映射（SOM）对气相色谱-质谱数据进行分类（数据挖掘）。将源自初级神经元分离的SOM神经元进行层次SOM（HSOM）分析，并根据六边形输出网格中的邻近性将其分组为神经元区域。虽然初级神经元分离和HSOM产生的分类比物种差异更敏感，但神经元区域产生的化学表型显然属于物种级别。这些化学表型对系统学有影响：虽然猛蚁和摩拉维猛蚁的化学表型与形态学鉴定相对应，但在普通猛蚁和不洁猛蚁中总共发现了六种化学表型。讨论了三个假说来解释形态学分类和化学分类之间的这种差异，特别是杂交的可能性和隐存种的存在。总体而言，通过SOM分类的气相色谱-质谱图谱被证明是形态学鉴定（猛蚁、摩拉维猛蚁）的一种实用替代方法，并表明有必要重新审视系统学（普通猛蚁、不洁猛蚁）。
