Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 02138, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
J Chem Ecol. 1990 Aug;16(8):2441-50. doi: 10.1007/BF01017467.
Colonies ofNasutitermes costalis (Holmgren) andN. ephratae (Holmgren) were collected from five locations in Trinidad. Cuticular hydrocarbons were characterized by gas chromatography-electron impact mass spectrometry and quantified by capillary gas chromatography. Sixteen major components were identified; all but one component (12, 16-dimethyltriacontane) were common to both species. The methyl-branched hydrocarbons were predominant inN. costalis, while the majority of the hydrocarbon components inN. ephratae weren-alkanes. One hydrocarbon (11,15-dimethylheptacosane) was found in abundance in samples ofN. ephratae from Trinidad but was not previously reported from collections of this species in Panama. In addition to the morphology of the soldiers and alates and the architecture of the arboreal nests,N. costalis andN. ephratae from Trinidad can easily be separated by chromatograms of the hydrocarbons.N. costalis has an enormous 13,17-dimethylhentriacontane peak (mean = 42.4% of total hydrocarbon). InN. ephratae this peak is much smaller and the 12,16-dimethyltriacontane peak is completely missing.N. costalis from Trinidad andN. corniger from Panama appear to have cuticular hydrocarbon profiles that are more similar to one another than are those ofN. ephratae from Trinidad and Panama.
从特立尼达的五个地点收集了 Nasutitermes costalis (Holmgren) 和 N. ephratae (Holmgren) 的殖民地。通过气相色谱-电子轰击质谱法对表皮烃进行了特征描述，并通过毛细管气相色谱法进行了定量。鉴定出了 16 种主要成分；除一种成分（12,16-二甲基三十烷）外，所有成分在两个物种中都存在。甲基支链烃在 N. costalis 中占优势，而 N. ephratae 中的大部分烃成分都不是正烷烃。一种烃（11,15-二甲基二十七烷）在特立尼达的 N. ephratae 样本中大量存在，但此前在巴拿马的该物种采集样本中没有报道过。除兵蚁和有翅成虫的形态和树栖巢的结构外，特立尼达的 N. costalis 和 N. ephratae 还可以通过烃的色谱图轻松区分。N. costalis 有一个巨大的 13,17-二甲基三十烷峰（平均值=总烃的 42.4%）。在 N. ephratae 中，这个峰要小得多，并且完全没有 12,16-二甲基三十烷峰。特立尼达的 N. costalis 和巴拿马的 N. corniger 似乎具有比特立尼达和巴拿马的 N. ephratae 更相似的表皮烃图谱。
