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Abstract-Territorial boundaries between conspecific social insect colonies are maintained through a highly developed nestmate recognition system modulated by heritable and, in some instances, nonheritable cues. Argentine ants, Linepithema humile, use both genetic and environmentally derived cues to discriminate nestmates from nonnestmates. We explored the possibility that intraspecific aggression in the Argentine ant might diminish when colonies shared a common diet. After segregating recently field-collected colony pairs into high or moderate aggression categories, we examined the effect of one of three diets: two hydrocarbon-rich insect prey, Blattella germanica and Supella longipalpa, and an artificial (insect-free) diet, on the magnitude of aggression loss. Aggression diminished between colony pairs that were initially moderately aggressive. However, initially highly aggressive colony pairs maintained high levels of injurious aggression throughout the study, independent of diet type. Each diet altered the cuticular hydrocarbon profile by contributing unique, diet-specific cues. We suggest that acquisition of common exogenous nestmate recognition cues from shared food sources may diminish aggression and promote fusion in neighboring colonies of the Argentine ant.

Cryptomelane-type K-OMS-2 nanomaterials with high surface area are synthesized from a mixture of KMnO4 and Mn(OAc)2·4H2O powders at low temperature in a very short time (80°C, 1 h). The samples are characterized by XRD, SEM, and TEM. The materials exhibit nanorod morphologies with average diameters of about 10 nm and lengths of about 50 nm. They show improved catalytic activity for the oxidation of alcohols compared with the conventional K-OMS-2 materials. The fast, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly solvent-free synthesis method has the potential of being used in scaled-up syntheses of K-OMS-2 and other transition-metal-ion-substituted manganese oxide nanomaterials. -(DING, Y.-S.; SHEN, X.-F.; SITHAMBARAM, S.; GOMEZ, S.; KUMAR, R.; CRISOSTOMO, V. M. B.; SUIB*, S. L.; AINDOW, M.; Chem. Mater. 17 (2005) 21, 5382-5389; Dep. Chem., Univ. Conn., Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Eng.) -W. Pewestorf 01-014