Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
J Chem Ecol. 2011 Jan;37(1):98-104. doi: 10.1007/s10886-010-9900-5. Epub 2010 Dec 17.
Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are the most diverse group of Apid bees and represent common pollinators in tropical ecosystems. Like honeybees they live in large eusocial colonies and rely on complex chemical recognition and communication systems. In contrast to honeybees, their ecology and especially their chemical ecology have received only little attention, particularly in the Old World. We previously have analyzed the chemical profiles of six paleotropical stingless bee species from Borneo and revealed the presence of species-specific cuticular terpenes- an environmentally derived compound class so far unique among social insects. Here, we compared the bees' surface profiles to the chemistry of their nest material. Terpenes, alkanes, and alkenes were the dominant compound groups on both body surfaces and nest material. However, bee profiles and nests strongly differed in their chemical composition. Body surfaces thus did not merely mirror nests, rendering a passive compound transfer from nests to bees unlikely. The difference between nests and bees was particularly pronounced when all resin-derived compounds (terpenes) were excluded and only genetically determined compounds were considered. When terpenes were included, bee profiles and nest material still differed, because whole groups of terpenes (e.g., sesquiterpenes) were found in nest material of some species, but missing in their chemical profile, indicating that bees are able to influence the terpene composition both in their nests and on their surfaces.
无刺蜂（Apidae: Meliponini）是 Apid 蜜蜂中最多样化的群体，也是热带生态系统中常见的传粉者。它们像蜜蜂一样生活在大型群居群体中，依赖于复杂的化学识别和交流系统。与蜜蜂不同的是，它们的生态学，尤其是它们的化学生态学，只受到了很少的关注，特别是在旧世界。我们之前分析了来自婆罗洲的六种热带无刺蜂的化学特征，并发现了存在种特异性的表皮萜烯——一种迄今为止在社会性昆虫中独一无二的环境衍生化合物类别。在这里，我们将蜜蜂的表面特征与它们巢材的化学性质进行了比较。萜烯、烷烃和烯烃是体表面和巢材上的主要化合物群。然而，蜜蜂的特征和巢材在化学成分上有很大的差异。因此，体表面并没有简单地反映巢材，使得从巢材到蜜蜂的被动化合物转移不太可能发生。当排除所有树脂衍生化合物（萜烯）并仅考虑遗传决定的化合物时，巢材和蜜蜂之间的差异尤其明显。当包括萜烯时，蜜蜂的特征和巢材仍然存在差异，因为某些物种的巢材中存在萜烯（如倍半萜烯）的整个萜烯群，但在它们的化学特征中缺失，这表明蜜蜂能够影响它们的巢材和表面的萜烯组成。
