Weil Tobias, Hoffmann Katharina, Kroiss Johannes, Strohm Erhard, Korb Judith
Biology I, University of Regensburg, Universitaetsstrasse 31, 93053, Regensburg, Germany.
Naturwissenschaften. 2009 Feb;96(2):315-9. doi: 10.1007/s00114-008-0475-8. Epub 2008 Nov 26.
In social insects, it is assumed that signals of the queen inform nestmates about her reproductive status. Thus, workers forego their own reproduction if the queen signals high fertility. In hemimetabolous termites, little is known about reproductive inhibition, but evidence exists for a royal-pair control. Workers of lower termites exhibit a high developmental flexibility and are potentially able to become reproductives, but the presence of a fertile reproductive restrains them from reaching sexual maturity. The nature of this control, however, remains unknown. Here, we report on qualitative differences in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles between queens and workers of the basal drywood termite Cryptotermes secundus. Queens were characterized by a shift to long-chained and branched hydrocarbons. Most remarkably, similar chemical patterns are regarded as fertility cues of reproductives in social Hymenoptera. This might suggest that both groups of social insects convergently evolved similar chemical signatures. The present study provides deeper insights into how termites might have socially exploited these signatures from sexual communication in their cockroach-like ancestor.
在社会性昆虫中，人们认为蚁后的信号会向巢友传达其生殖状态。因此，如果蚁后显示出高繁殖力，工蚁就会放弃自身繁殖。在半变态白蚁中，关于生殖抑制的了解甚少，但有证据表明存在“皇室配偶控制”。低等白蚁的工蚁表现出高度的发育灵活性，并且有可能成为生殖蚁，但有繁殖能力的生殖蚁的存在会抑制它们达到性成熟。然而，这种控制的本质仍然未知。在这里，我们报告了基部干木白蚁Cryptotermes secundus蚁后和工蚁之间表皮碳氢化合物谱的定性差异。蚁后的特征是向长链和支链碳氢化合物转变。最引人注目的是，类似的化学模式被认为是社会性膜翅目昆虫中生殖蚁的繁殖力线索。这可能表明这两类社会性昆虫趋同进化出了相似的化学信号。本研究更深入地揭示了白蚁可能是如何从其类似蟑螂的祖先的性交流中社会性地利用这些信号的。
