Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Tväminne Zoological Station, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
J Chem Ecol. 2021 Jun;47(6):513-524. doi: 10.1007/s10886-021-01275-w. Epub 2021 Apr 26.
Chemical communication is common across all organisms. Insects in particular use predominantly chemical stimuli in assessing their environment and recognizing their social counterparts. One of the chemical stimuli used for recognition in social insects, such as ants, is the suite of long-chain, cuticular hydrocarbons. In addition to providing waterproofing, these surface hydrocarbons serve as a signature mixture, which ants can perceive, and use to distinguish between strangers and colony mates, and to determine caste, sex, and reproductive status of another individual. They can be both environmentally and endogenously acquired. The surface chemistry of adult workers has been studied extensively in ants, yet the pupal stage has rarely been considered. Here we characterized the surface chemistry of pupae of Formica exsecta, and examine differences among sexes, castes (reproductive vs. worker), and types of sample (developing individual vs. cocoon envelope). We found quantitative and qualitative differences among both castes and types of sample, but male and female reproductives did not differ in their surface chemistry. We also found that the pupal surface chemistry was more complex than that of adult workers in this species. These results improve our understanding of the information on which ants base recognition, and highlights the diversity of surface chemistry in social insects across developmental stages.
化学通讯在所有生物中都很常见。特别是昆虫，主要使用化学刺激物来评估环境并识别社交伙伴。在社会性昆虫（如蚂蚁）中，用于识别的化学刺激物之一是长链角质烃的组合。除了提供防水功能外，这些表面烃类还作为一种特征混合物，蚂蚁可以感知并用于区分陌生人与 colony mates，以及确定另一个个体的等级、性别和生殖状态。它们可以通过环境和内源性获得。成年工蚁的表面化学已在蚂蚁中得到广泛研究，但蛹期很少被考虑。在这里，我们描述了 Formica exsecta 蛹的表面化学，并检查了性别、等级（生殖与工蚁）和样本类型（发育个体与茧囊）之间的差异。我们发现两种样本类型的性别之间存在定量和定性差异，但雄性和雌性生殖体在表面化学上没有差异。我们还发现，在这个物种中，蛹的表面化学比成年工蚁的更为复杂。这些结果提高了我们对蚂蚁识别基础信息的理解，并强调了社会性昆虫在不同发育阶段表面化学的多样性。
