Ichinose Katsuya, Lenoir Alain
IRBI, CNRS UMR, Université François-Rabelais, Tours, France.
C R Biol. 2009 Aug;332(8):697-703. doi: 10.1016/j.crvi.2009.04.002. Epub 2009 May 6.
In ants, cuticular hydrocarbons are used for nestmate recognition; they are stored in the postpharyngeal gland and shared among the individuals. Newly emerged ants have a very small quantity of hydrocarbons. We studied the ontogeny of the hydrocarbon profile in Aphaenogaster senilis. The total quantities of both cuticular and postpharyngeal gland (PPG) hydrocarbons increased with age from 0 to 20 days after emergence and then stabilised. These quantities are correlated with the development of the ovary. Under individual social isolation, cuticular hydrocarbons increased as normal, but the total quantity of PPG hydrocarbons never increased from the initial low level. This effect of social isolation on the PPG hydrocarbon level indicates the importance of hydrocarbon transfer between nestmates through the PPG and lends support to the gestalt model of nestmate recognition.
在蚂蚁中，表皮碳氢化合物用于识别同巢伙伴；它们储存在咽后腺中并在个体之间共享。新羽化的蚂蚁表皮碳氢化合物的量非常少。我们研究了老年弓背蚁表皮碳氢化合物谱的个体发生过程。表皮和咽后腺（PPG）碳氢化合物的总量在羽化后0至20天随年龄增长而增加，然后稳定下来。这些量与卵巢的发育相关。在个体社会隔离的情况下，表皮碳氢化合物正常增加，但PPG碳氢化合物的总量从未从初始的低水平增加。社会隔离对PPG碳氢化合物水平的这种影响表明了通过PPG在同巢伙伴之间进行碳氢化合物转移的重要性，并支持了同巢伙伴识别的完形模型。
