Cotoneschi Chiara, Dani Francesca R, Cervo Rita, Sledge Matthew F, Turillazzi Stefano
Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica Leo Pardi, University of Florence, 50125 Florence, Italy.
J Insect Physiol. 2007 Sep;53(9):954-63. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2006.12.016. Epub 2007 Mar 31.
Social insects use cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) as recognition cues in a variety of social contexts, such as species and nestmate recognition. Discrimination of nestmates is an important requisite to avoid exploitation by unrelated individuals. In social wasps, use of CHCs in nestmate recognition has been demonstrated only among adults, whereas very little is known regarding brood recognition. We performed gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses of the CHCs of adults and larvae of the social wasp Polistes dominulus and found that larvae possess a characteristic chemical colony-specific pattern distinct from that of adults. Behavioural assays confirmed that these are recognized and discriminated by adults. Larval epicuticular substances are therefore sufficient for recognition of nestmate larvae by adults and demonstrate that wasps are able to discriminate between alien and nestmate larval odours.
群居昆虫在多种社交情境中，如物种识别和巢伴识别，会使用表皮碳氢化合物（CHCs）作为识别线索。识别巢伴是避免被非亲缘个体剥削的一项重要条件。在群居黄蜂中，CHCs在巢伴识别中的应用仅在成年个体中得到证实，而关于幼虫识别的了解却非常少。我们对群居黄蜂意大利黄蜂（Polistes dominulus）的成虫和幼虫的CHCs进行了气相色谱 - 质谱分析，发现幼虫拥有一种独特的、与成虫不同的、具有化学群落特异性的模式。行为分析证实，成虫能够识别并区分这些模式。因此，幼虫的表皮物质足以让成虫识别巢伴幼虫，并表明黄蜂能够区分外来幼虫和巢伴幼虫的气味。
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