Oppelt Angelika, Heinze Jürgen
University of Regensburg, Biology I, Zoology, Regensburg D-93040, Germany.
J Insect Physiol. 2009 Jul;55(7):624-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2009.03.010. Epub 2009 Apr 10.
While sexual communication is often characterized by attempted manipulation, both sexes agree about females reliably signalling their receptivity. Female sexuals of the ant Leptothorax gredleri quickly became unattractive to males after their first copulation. This loss of attractiveness coincided with almost immediate changes in their cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles. Already 30 min after mating, the CHC profiles of female sexuals had significantly lower relative amounts of branched alkanes and higher amounts of linear alkanes than those of unmated and freshly mated female sexuals. Discriminant analysis did not distinguish between the profiles of freshly mated and unmated female sexuals, suggesting that the extremely rapid modification of CHC profiles is not caused by males marking females with anti-aphrodisiac CHCs. Instead, the new profile is produced by the female sexuals themselves. In addition to making them unattractive to males, this change may also help mated female sexuals when seeking adoption into established colonies.
虽然性交流通常以试图操纵为特征，但两性都认同雌性会可靠地发出其接受性信号。雌性格雷德勒氏细胸蚁在首次交配后很快就对雄性失去了吸引力。这种吸引力的丧失与它们表皮碳氢化合物（CHC）谱几乎立即发生的变化同时出现。交配后仅30分钟，雌性性蚁的CHC谱中支链烷烃的相对含量就显著低于未交配和刚交配的雌性性蚁，而直链烷烃的含量则更高。判别分析无法区分刚交配和未交配的雌性性蚁的谱图，这表明CHC谱的极快速变化不是由雄性用抗催情CHC标记雌性引起的。相反，新的谱图是由雌性性蚁自身产生的。除了使它们对雄性没有吸引力外，这种变化在已建立的蚁群中寻求被接纳时，可能也对已交配的雌性性蚁有帮助。
