Neves E F, Lima L D, Sguarizi-Antonio D, Andrade L H C, Lima S M, Lima-Junior S E, Antonialli-Junior W F
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Univ Federal da Grande Dourados, Dourados, MS, Brasil.
Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental, Univ Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul, Rodovia Dourados/ Itahum, Km 12, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brasil.
Neotrop Entomol. 2019 Dec;48(6):1030-1038. doi: 10.1007/s13744-019-00711-7. Epub 2019 Aug 27.
Chemical compounds present on the cuticle of social insects are important in communication, as they are used in recognition of nestmates and sexual partners as well as in caste distinction, varying according to several factors, such as genetic and environmental. In this context, some studies have explored the cuticular chemical profile as a tool for assessing intra- and interspecific differences in social insects, although few studies have investigated this in social wasps. This study aimed to assess the differences in cuticular chemical profiles among different geographic samples of the wasp Mischocyttarus consimilis Zikán. Our hypothesis was that environmental factors are decisive to compose the cuticular chemical profiles of colonies of these social wasps and that there are differences regarding the geographic distribution among colonies. We used Fourier Transform Infrared-Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (FTIR-PAS) to assess the chemical profiles of samples. Our results show that despite there are differences between the cuticular chemical composition of the wasps' samples from different populations, there is no significant correlation compared to the spatial distribution of the colonies nor with the environment. Thus, our hypothesis was refuted, and we can infer that in this species neither exogenous nor genetic factors stand out to differentiate the chemical signature of their colonies, but a combination of both.
社会性昆虫表皮上存在的化合物在通讯中很重要，因为它们用于识别巢伴和性伴侣以及区分不同的社会等级，其会根据多种因素而变化，比如基因和环境因素。在这种背景下，一些研究探索了表皮化学特征，将其作为评估社会性昆虫种内和种间差异的一种工具，不过很少有研究在社会性黄蜂中对此进行调查。本研究旨在评估黄蜂Mischocyttarus consimilis Zikán不同地理样本之间表皮化学特征的差异。我们的假设是，环境因素对于构成这些社会性黄蜂群体的表皮化学特征起决定性作用，并且不同群体之间在地理分布上存在差异。我们使用傅里叶变换红外光声光谱法（FTIR-PAS）来评估样本的化学特征。我们的结果表明，尽管来自不同种群的黄蜂样本的表皮化学成分存在差异，但与群体的空间分布以及环境相比，并无显著相关性。因此，我们的假设被推翻，并且我们可以推断，在这个物种中，无论是外部因素还是基因因素，都不足以区分其群体的化学特征，而是两者的结合。
