QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online February 20, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 1085-1091 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.00865

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by D'Ettorre, P. Articles by Ayasse, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by D'Ettorre, P. Articles by Ayasse, M. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Does she smell like a queen? Chemoreception of a cuticular hydrocarbon signal in the ant Pachycondyla inversa

Patrizia D'Ettorre^1,*, Jürgen Heinze¹, Claudia Schulz², Wittko Francke² and Manfred Ayasse³

¹ Department of Zoology, University of Regensburg, Universitaetsstrasse 31, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
² Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 6, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
³ Department of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069 Ulm, Germany

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: patrizia.dettorre{at}biologie.uni-regensburg.de)

Accepted 5 January 2004

Primitive ant societies, with their relatively simple social structure, provide an opportunity to explore the evolution of chemical communication, in particular of mechanisms underlying within-colony discrimination. In the same colony, slight differences in individual odours can be the basis for discrimination between different castes, classes of age and social status. There is some evidence from correlative studies that such inter-individual variation is associated with differences in reproductive status, but direct proof that certain chemical compounds are detected and recognized by ants is still lacking. In the ponerine ant Pachycondyla inversa, fertile queens and, in orphaned colonies, dominant egg-laying workers are characterized by the predominance of a branched hydrocarbon, 3,11-dimethylheptacosane (3,11-diMeC₂₇) on the cuticle. Using electroanntennography and gas chromatography with electroantennographic detection, we show that the antennae of P. inversa workers react to this key compound. 3,11-diMeC₂₇ is correlated with ovarian activity and, because it is detected, is likely to assume the role of a fertility signal reflecting the quality of the sender.

Key words: chemical communication, fertility signal, 3,11-dimethylheptacosane, electroantennographic detection, ant, Pachycondyla inversa

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Hanus, V. Vrkoslav, I. Hrdy, J. Cvacka, and J. Sobotnik Beyond cuticular hydrocarbons: evidence of proteinaceous secretion specific to termite kings and queens Proc R Soc B, November 25, 2009; (2009) rspb.2009.1857v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. J. Guerrieri, V. Nehring, C. G. Jorgensen, J. Nielsen, C. G. Galizia, and P. d'Ettorre Ants recognize foes and not friends Proc R Soc B, July 7, 2009; 276(1666): 2461 - 2468. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Heinze and P. d'Ettorre Honest and dishonest communication in social Hymenoptera J. Exp. Biol., June 15, 2009; 212(12): 1775 - 1779. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Amsalem, R. Twele, W. Francke, and A. Hefetz Reproductive competition in the bumble-bee Bombus terrestris: do workers advertise sterility? Proc R Soc B, April 7, 2009; 276(1660): 1295 - 1304. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]