Department of Entomology, University of California, 95616, Davis, California.
J Chem Ecol. 1991 Apr;17(4):745-56. doi: 10.1007/BF00994197.
Hydrocarbons of worker honeybees of known pedigree were extracted and analyzed using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Variability in hydrocarbon extracts of individual workers is determined at least in part genetically. Correlations in hydrocarbon composition of extracts were highest among more closely related individuals. Individuals maintained in groups exchange hydrocarbons but still maintain enough self-produced compounds to retain genetically determined individual characteristics. These results demonstrate that extractable hydrocarbons of bees provide sufficiently reliable genetic information to function as labels for use during kin recognition.
采用气相色谱和质谱法提取并分析了已知品系工蜂的碳氢化合物。个体工蜂的碳氢化合物提取物的变异性至少部分是由遗传决定的。亲缘关系较近的个体之间的提取物碳氢组成相关性最高。在群体中饲养的个体可以交换碳氢化合物，但仍保留足够的自身产生的化合物，以保持由遗传决定的个体特征。这些结果表明，蜜蜂可提取的碳氢化合物提供了足够可靠的遗传信息，可以作为亲缘识别过程中的标记使用。
