Tannure-Nascimento I C, Nascimento F S, Turatti I C, Lopes N P, Trigo J R, Zucchi R
Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil
Genet Mol Res. 2007 Jun 27;6(2):390-6.
Nestmate recognition is one the most important features in social insect colonies. Although epicuticular lipids or cuticular hydrocarbons have both structural and defensive functions in insects, they also seem to be involved in several aspects of communication in wasps, bees and ants. We analyzed and described for the first time the cuticular hydrocarbons of a Neotropical paper wasp, Polistes satan, and found that variation in hydrocarbon profile was sufficiently strong to discriminate individuals according to their colony membership. Therefore, it seems that small differences in the proportion of these compounds can be detected and used as a chemical-based cue by nestmates to detect invaders and avoid usurpation.
识别同巢伙伴是群居昆虫群落中最重要的特征之一。尽管表皮脂质或表皮碳氢化合物在昆虫中兼具结构和防御功能，但它们似乎也参与了黄蜂、蜜蜂和蚂蚁交流的多个方面。我们首次分析并描述了一种新热带区胡蜂——撒旦黄胡蜂（Polistes satan）的表皮碳氢化合物，发现碳氢化合物谱的变化足够明显，能够根据同巢伙伴关系来区分个体。因此，这些化合物比例上的微小差异似乎能够被同巢伙伴察觉，并作为一种基于化学的线索来检测入侵者，避免巢穴被侵占。
