Institute for Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Germany.
Chem Senses. 2010 Sep;35(7):593-601. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjq057. Epub 2010 Jun 9.
Stingless bees, like honeybees, live in highly organized, perennial colonies. Their eusocial way of life, which includes division of labor, implies that only a fraction of the workers leave the nest to forage for food. To ensure a sufficient food supply for all colony members, stingless bees have evolved different mechanisms to recruit workers to foraging or even to communicate the location of particular food sites. In some species, foragers deposit pheromone marks between food sources and their nest, which are used by recruited workers to locate the food. To date, pheromone compounds have only been described for 3 species. We have identified the trail pheromone of a further species by means of chemical and electrophysiological analyses and with bioassays testing natural gland extracts and synthetic compounds. The pheromone is a blend of wax type and terpene esters. The relative proportions of the single components showed significant differences in the pheromones of foragers form 3 different colonies. This is the first report on a trail pheromone comprised of esters of 2 different biogenetic origins proving variability of the system. Pheromone specificity may serve to avoid confusions between the trails deposited by foragers of different nests and, thus, to decrease competition at food sources.
无刺蜂和蜜蜂一样，生活在高度组织化的多年生群体中。它们的群居生活方式包括分工，这意味着只有一小部分工蜂离开巢穴觅食。为了确保所有蜂群成员都有充足的食物供应，无刺蜂已经进化出不同的机制来招募工蜂进行觅食，甚至可以传达特定食物地点的位置。在一些物种中，觅食者会在食物源和巢穴之间留下信息素标记，被招募的工蜂会利用这些标记找到食物。迄今为止，仅为 3 种物种描述了信息素化合物。我们通过化学和电生理学分析以及对天然腺体提取物和合成化合物的生物测定，确定了另一种无刺蜂的追踪信息素。这种信息素是蜡质和萜烯酯的混合物。在来自 3 个不同群体的觅食者的信息素中，单一成分的相对比例存在显著差异。这是首次报道由两种不同生物起源的酯组成的追踪信息素，证明了该系统的可变性。信息素的特异性可能有助于避免不同巢穴的觅食者留下的踪迹之间的混淆，从而减少食物源的竞争。
