Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2021 Jan;128:103514. doi: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2020.103514. Epub 2020 Dec 23.
Insect alarm pheromones are chemical substances that are synthesized and released in response to predators to reduce predation risk. Alarm pheromones can also be perceived by predators, who take advantage of alarm cues to locate prey. While selection favors evolution of alarm pheromone signals that are not easily detectable by predators, predator evolution selects for better prey detection ability. Here, we review the diversity of alarm signals, and consider the behavioral and ecological conditions under which they have evolved. We show that components of alarm pheromones are similar across many insects, although aphids exhibit different behavioral responses to alarm cues compared to social insects. The effects of alarm pheromones on prey behavior depend on factors such as the concentration of pheromones and the density of conspecifics. We also discuss the molecular mechanisms of alarm pheromone perception underlying the evolutionary arms race between predators and prey, and the function of olfactory proteins and receptors in particular. Our review provides a novel synthesis of the diversity and function of insect alarm pheromones, while suggesting avenues that might better allow researchers to exploit population-level responses to alarm signaling for the sustainable management of pests and vector-borne pathogens.
昆虫报警信息素是对捕食者做出反应合成并释放的化学物质，以降低被捕食的风险。报警信息素也能被捕食者感知，捕食者会利用报警线索来定位猎物。尽管选择有利于进化出不易被捕食者察觉的报警信息素信号，但捕食者的进化也会选择更好的猎物探测能力。在这里，我们回顾了报警信号的多样性，并考虑了它们在哪些行为和生态条件下进化而来。我们表明，尽管与社会性昆虫相比，蚜虫对报警线索表现出不同的行为反应，但许多昆虫的报警信息素成分相似。报警信息素对猎物行为的影响取决于信息素的浓度和同种个体的密度等因素。我们还讨论了在捕食者和猎物之间的进化军备竞赛中，报警信息素感知的分子机制，以及嗅觉蛋白和受体的功能。我们的综述提供了昆虫报警信息素多样性和功能的新综合，同时提出了一些途径，可能使研究人员更好地利用种群水平对报警信号的反应，以实现对害虫和媒介传播病原体的可持续管理。
