A Review of Ant Cuticular Hydrocarbons

Abstract

We compared the published cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles of 78 ant species across 5 subfamilies. Almost 1,000 CHCs have been described for these species, composing 187 distinct homologous series and ten hydrocarbon groups. In descending order of occurrence were: n-alkanes > monomethylalkanes > dimethylalkanes > alkenes > dienes>> trimethylalkanes>> methylalkenes > methylalkadienes > trienes > tetramethylalkanes. Odd chain lengths and positions of methyl or double bonds at odd carbon numbers were far more numerous than even chain-length compounds or bond positions. Although each species possess its own unique pattern of CHCs, we found no association between CHC profile and phylogeny. The production of the biosynthetically complex compounds (e.g., methyl branched dienes) by the most primitive living ant suggests that the basic genetic architecture required to produce the rich diversity of CHCs was already present prior to their adaptive radiation. Unlike the ubiquitous n-alkanes and monomethylalkanes, there is a huge diversity of species-specific dimethylalkanes that makes them likely candidates for species and nest-mate discrimination signals.

Molecular traces of alternative social organization in a termite genome

“…Relative to other insects, there is a greater number of desaturase genes in ants 62 , although alkenes or polyunsaturated alkenes have not been found in all ants investigated 63 . Z. nevadensis nuttingi displays two alkadienes and two alkatrienes in the cuticular profile of reproductive individuals 49 , but the number of desaturases is at the lower end of the number of putatively functional desaturase genes found in ants (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23).…”

Social insect genomes exhibit dramatic evolution in gene composition and regulation while preserving regulatory features linked to sociality

“…Desaturase proteins are central to the production of alkenes, a highly variable component of cuticular hydrocarbons reported to transmit complex signals like nest-mate recognition cues in ants (Martin and Drijfhout 2009;van Zweden et al 2010). Manual annotation and phylogenetic analyses of the D9 and D11 desaturase gene families revealed that five ancestral subfamilies are present in all holometabolous insects (Supplemental Fig.…”

The Long and the Short of Mate Attraction in a Psylloid: do Semiochemicals Mediate Mating in Aacanthocnema dobsoni Froggatt?

“…Although the CHCs of A. dobsoni have not been previously analyzed chemically, they consist of compounds that have been identified in several other insect taxa, reflecting a high degree of conservatism (Guédot et al 2009b; Martin et al 2008a; Martin and Drijfhout 2009 ). Sixty two percent of the CHCs we identified are also known on C. pyricola (Guédot et al 2009b ).…”

“…The majority of the n alkanes and monomethyl alkanes likely provide protection against water loss. It is unlikely that n alkanes, and, to some extent, mono methyl alkanes, function as stable and distinctive communication signals (Gibbs and Pomonis 1995; Howard and Blomquist 2005; Martin and Drijfhout 2009 ) because these compounds are shared across taxa and vary considerably depending on environmental factors (Gibbs andPomonis 1995 ; Gibbs 1998 ).…”