Bank vole alarm pheromone chemistry and effects in the field

Abstract

Chemical communication plays an important role in mammalian life history decisions. Animals send and receive information based on body odour secretions. Odour cues provide important social information on identity, kinship, sex, group membership or genetic quality. Recent findings show, that rodents alarm their conspecifics with danger-dependent body odours after encountering a predator. In this study, we aim to identify the chemistry of alarm pheromones (AP) in the bank vole, a common boreal rodent. Furthermore, the vole foraging efficiency under perceived fear was measured in a set of field experiments in large outdoor enclosures. During the analysis of bank vole odour by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, we identified that 1-octanol, 2-octanone, and one unknown compound as the most likely candidates to function as alarm signals. These compounds were independent of the vole’s sex. In a field experiment, voles were foraging less, i.e. they were more afraid in the AP odour foraging trays during the first day, as the odour was fresh, than in the second day. This verified the short lasting effect of volatile APs. Our results clarified the chemistry of alarming body odour compounds in mammals, and enhanced our understanding of the ecological role of AP and chemical communication in mammals.

1-Octanol emitted by Oecophylla smaragdina weaver ants repels and deters oviposition in Queensland fruit fly

“…1-Octanol in essential oils of plants has been reported as a biting deterrent in the mosquito Aedes aegypti 38 and as an oviposition deterrent in the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis 39 . A recent study has shown 1-octanol to be a major component of the alarm pheromones in a mammal, the Bank vole Myodes glareolus 40 . However, the function of 1-octanol in O. smaragdina is currently unknown.…”