National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, 20892, Bethesda, Maryland.
J Chem Ecol. 1992 Jun;18(6):847-54. doi: 10.1007/BF00988325.
Cephalic extracts of two unrelated species of ants,Leptogenys processionalis andPogonomyrmex rugosus, have been found to contain 2-phenylpropenal and 2-phenyl-2-butenal, while two other species related to the first,L. chinensis andL. kitteli, lacked either.L. kitteli also produced a tetrasubstituted pyrazine found previously only in two New Zealand ants in the genusMesoponera. The chemical reactivity of the phenylalkenals suggests their function in repelling attack by predators.
已发现两种无亲缘关系的蚂蚁，即行军蚁（Leptogenys processionalis）和多刺蚁（Pogonomyrmex rugosus）的头部提取物中含有 2-苯基丙烯醛和 2-苯基-2-丁烯醛，而另外两种与第一种蚂蚁相关的物种，即中华大头蚁（L. chinensis）和金环胡蜂（L. kitteli）则要么缺乏这种物质，要么都缺乏。金环胡蜂还产生了一种以前只在新西兰的两种中胸蚁属（Mesoponera）蚂蚁中发现的四取代吡嗪。苯丙烯醛的化学反应性表明它们具有抵御捕食者攻击的功能。
