U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station Forest Service, P.O. Box 245, 94701, Berkeley, California.
J Chem Ecol. 1988 Mar;14(3):1035-58. doi: 10.1007/BF01018791.
Colonies ofZootermopsis were collected from the central Sierra Nevada and the Monterey Penninsula in California, and from southern Arizona. Cuticular hydrocarbons were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and quantified by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) for each caste of all colonies. Four consistent and distinct cuticular hydrocarbon patterns, or chemical phenotypes, were identified. Unique and abundant monomethyl- and dimethylalkanes, and ann-alkene provided easy separation of the various phenotypes. Significant differences in the proportions of the various components were found among castes within a colony and colonies within phenotypes from California. Differences in the hydrocarbon proportions for castes were not consistent between colonies. The current taxonomy of the genusZootermopsis recognizes three species. Our identification of four consistent, unique cuticular hydrocarbon phenotypes from the three described species should alert systematists and others to a major concern. If there are truly only three extant species, then the hypothesis that cuticular hydrocarbon profiles in this genus are species specific is not acceptable. Conversely, if cuticular hydrocarbon profiles are truly species specific, then there is at least one new, undescribed species ofZootermopsis.
从加利福尼亚州的内华达山脉中部和蒙特利半岛以及亚利桑那州南部收集了 Zootermopsis 的菌落。对所有菌落的各个虫态的表皮碳氢化合物进行了气相色谱-质谱联用 (GC-MS) 鉴定，并通过气液色谱 (GLC) 进行了定量。确定了四种一致且独特的表皮碳氢化合物模式或化学表型。独特且丰富的单甲基和二甲基链烷烃以及 ann-烯烃为各种表型的轻松分离提供了便利。在一个菌落内的各个虫态以及来自加利福尼亚的表型内的各个虫态之间，发现了各种成分的比例存在显著差异。不同菌落之间的不同虫态的碳氢化合物比例存在差异。该属 Zootermopsis 的现行分类法承认有三个物种。我们从三个已描述的物种中鉴定出四个一致且独特的表皮碳氢化合物表型，这应该引起系统学家和其他人的关注。如果实际上只有三个现存物种，那么该属的表皮碳氢化合物图谱是物种特异性的假设是不可接受的。相反，如果表皮碳氢化合物图谱确实是物种特异性的，那么至少有一个新的、未被描述的 Zootermopsis 物种。
