Colony-level and season-specific variation in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of individual workers in the ant Formica truncorum

Nielson, J.; Boomsma, Jacobus J.; Oldham, Neil J.; Petersen, Hans Christian; Morgan, E. David

doi:10.1007/s000400050113

Cited by 84 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Therefore, it is likely that larvae also use surface chemistry in prey recognition. Although the surface chemistry of different stages of an insect varies (Carlson et al 1999;Nielsen et al 1999;Wagner et al 1998), nevertheless, it is likely to be more similar within than between species and thus could function as a species specific signal (Blows & Allan 1998;Lahav et al 1999;Liu et al 1999;Nielsen et al 1999). If this is the case then the reluctance to eat conspecific eggs might indicate that well fed larvae generally avoid attacking individuals of the same species as there is a risk of the attacker becoming the victim in case of a size handicap.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of surface chemical signals in egg cannibalism and intraguild predation in ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Hemptinne¹,

Lognay

Gauthier

et al. 2000

Chemoecology

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Summary. The eggs of some ladybirds are known to be toxic to intraguild ladybird predators. However, this defence is of little value if the eggs are killed before their toxicity becomes apparent. The results presented in this paper indicate that chemicals on the surface of the eggs of two species of ladybirds signal the relative risk of cannibalism and intraguild predation. In Adalia bipunctata and Coccinella septempunctata, 87% of the chemicals are alkanes. Each species of ladybird is less reluctant to eat their own eggs than those of the other species. This asymmetry is to be expected because there is a greater risk to ladybirds from intraguild predation than cannibalism. Similar alkanes to those on the surface of the eggs of A. bipunctata are present in tracks left by larvae and on the elytra of the adults of this species. Those in the larval tracks deter females from ovipositing in patches of prey already being attacked by their larvae and those on the elytra are used in mate recognition. That different context dependent messages could be signalled by similar chemicals is an example of semiochemical parsimony.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of surface chemical signals in egg cannibalism and intraguild predation in ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Hemptinne¹,

Lognay

Gauthier

et al. 2000

Chemoecology

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“…Details on the gas chromatography and mass spectrometry procedures are given in ref. 18. The speciesspecific cuticular hydrocarbon profile of F. truncorum workers consists of relatively few compounds and is dominated by saturated (alkane) hydrocarbon peaks (18).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…18. The speciesspecific cuticular hydrocarbon profile of F. truncorum workers consists of relatively few compounds and is dominated by saturated (alkane) hydrocarbon peaks (18). The solid sampling technique applied to the 1994 samples allowed the consistent quantification of five peaks, whereas the cuticular washes of the 2000 samples allowed the quantification of nine cuticular hydrocarbons ( Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Informational constraints on optimal sex allocation in ants

Boomsma

Nielsen²,

Sundström³

et al. 2003

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

106

112

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Workers of the ant Formica truncorum specialize in rearing females or males depending on the number of fathers of a colony. These split sex ratios increase inclusive fitness, but it has remained unknown how workers assess the number of patrilines in their colonies and to what extent their reproductive decisions are constrained by lack of information. By analysis of the quantitative variation in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of workers of multiply mated queens, we show that the heritable component of recognition cues is low and that the extent of sex ratio biasing toward males is correlated with patriline differences in hydrocarbon profiles. Workers are thus able to capitalize on colony-level relatedness asymmetry, but their inclusive fitness is constrained by uninformative recognition cues. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the occasional expression of nepotistic phenotypes favoring full-sisters over half-sisters maintains selection against informative recognition cues. We evaluate how inclusive fitness theory may be used to predict the number and kind of recognition cues in insect societies of a specific relatedness structure.split sex ratios ͉ inclusive fitness ͉ chemical recognition ͉ cuticular hydrocarbons ͉ nepotism E very kin-structured society is a delicate balance between cooperation for common prosperity and potentially destructive conflicts between subgroups or individuals. The expression of such conflicts may increase the fitness of some individuals, but may entail collective costs when it disrupts social cohesion and reduces productivity (1). Principles of cooperation and conflict in families can generally be understood from Hamilton's rule (2), but the key variables in the equation (relatedness and the costs and benefits of helping), may both explain indiscriminate cooperation among relatives of any degree, and nepotistic discrimination between relatives of different relatedness. This paradox can only be resolved when recognition efficiency, i.e., the availability and perception of information on relatedness, is explicitly considered (3). Accurate information allows efficient recognition of individual degrees of kinship promoting the expression of conflict, whereas noisy recognition cues could make the cost of nepotism greater than the benefit and thus lead to unconditional cooperation among relatives, while still allowing discrimination of nonkin.The ability to differentiate between kin of different degree has been amply documented in vertebrate societies (4, 5), but has remained difficult to prove in insect societies (ref. 3, but see ref. 6). Likely reasons for this difference might be that insect colonies are larger than vertebrate societies, whereas the learning capacities of insects are limited compared with vertebrates (4). In addition, the social life of insects happens mostly in the darkness of nest cavities. Visual cues are therefore of limited use, the only known exception being paper wasps with daylight-exposed nests, which can recognize facial characteristics of nes...

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“…An interesting chemical trait to investigate is the cuticular profile of social insects, because it represents a complex blend of several compound classes that can have largely different functions and whose composition is likely to be shaped by different evolutionary processes. The cuticular chemistry is known to be affected by genetic relatedness [3][4][5], season [6], geographical location [4,[7][8][9] and diet [10 -12], but few studies have investigated whether environmental and/or genetic factors differentially affect different classes of cuticular compounds. Cuticular profiles predominantly comprise non-polar hydrocarbons (n-alkanes, alkenes and methyl-branched alkanes), but can be enriched by polar compounds (such as alcohols, esters, ketones, aldehydes or oxidized terpenes; [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genes versus environment: geography and phylogenetic relationships shape the chemical profiles of stingless bees on a global scale

2013

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Chemical compounds are highly important in the ecology of animals. In social insects, compounds on the body surface represent a particularly interesting trait, because they comprise different compound classes that are involved in different functions, such as communication, recognition and protection, all of which can be differentially affected by evolutionary processes. Here, we investigate the widely unknown and possibly antagonistic influence of phylogenetic and environmental factors on the composition of the cuticular chemistry of tropical stingless bees. We chose stingless bees because some species are unique in expressing not only self-produced compounds, but also compounds that are taken up from the environment. By relating the cuticular chemistry of 40 bee species from all over the world to their molecular phylogeny and geographical occurrence, we found that distribution patterns of different groups of compounds were differentially affected by genetic relatedness and biogeography. The ability to acquire environmental compounds was, for example, highly correlated with the bees' phylogeny and predominated in evolutionarily derived species. Owing to the presence of environmentally derived compounds, those species further expressed a higher chemical and thus functional diversity. In Old World species, chemical similarity of both environmentally derived and self-produced compounds was particularly high among sympatric species, even when they were less related to each other than to allopatric species, revealing a strong environmental effect even on largely genetically determined compounds. Thus, our findings do not only reveal an unexpectedly strong influence of the environment on the cuticular chemistry of stingless bees, but also demonstrate that even within one morphological trait (an insect's cuticular profile), different components (compound classes) can be differentially affected by different drivers (relatedness and biogeography), depending on the functional context.

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Colony-level and season-specific variation in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of individual workers in the ant Formica truncorum

Cited by 84 publications

References 49 publications

Role of surface chemical signals in egg cannibalism and intraguild predation in ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Role of surface chemical signals in egg cannibalism and intraguild predation in ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Informational constraints on optimal sex allocation in ants

Genes versus environment: geography and phylogenetic relationships shape the chemical profiles of stingless bees on a global scale

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