Cuticular hydrocarbons and reproductive status in the social wasp Polistes dominulus

Sledge, Matthew F.; Boscaro, Francesca; Turillazzi, Stefano

doi:10.1007/s002650000311

Cited by 177 publications

(144 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…In several ant species, the hydrocarbon profiles of adults correlate with the fertility of individuals, which suggests that hydrocarbons represent a signal regulating reproduction (35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45). In fact, workers can identify gradual differences in the fertility of nestmates in some of these species (42,46) as well as in others (47)(48)(49).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface hydrocarbons of queen eggs regulate worker reproduction in a social insect

Endler

Liebig

Schmitt

et al. 2004

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

256

219

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A hitherto largely unresolved problem in behavioral biology is how workers are prevented from reproducing in large insect societies with high relatedness. Signals of the queen are assumed to inform the nestmates about her presence in the colony, which leads to indirect fitness benefits for workers. In the ant Camponotus floridanus, we found such a signal located on queen-laid eggs. In groups of workers that were regularly provided with queen-laid eggs, larvae, and cocoons, with larvae and cocoons alone, or with no brood, only in the groups with queen-laid eggs did workers not lay eggs. Thus, the eggs seem to inform the nestmates about the queen's presence, which induces workers to refrain from reproducing. The signal on queen-laid eggs is presumably the same that enables workers to distinguish between queen-and worker-laid eggs. Despite their viability, the latter are destroyed by workers when given a choice between both types. Queen-and worker-laid eggs differ in their surface hydrocarbons in a way similar to the way fertile queens differ from workers in the composition of their cuticular hydrocarbons. When we transferred hydrocarbons from the queen cuticle to worker-laid eggs, the destruction of those eggs was significantly mitigated. We conclude that queen-derived hydrocarbon labels inform workers about the presence of a fertile queen and thereby regulate worker reproduction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface hydrocarbons of queen eggs regulate worker reproduction in a social insect

Endler

Liebig

Schmitt

et al. 2004

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

256

219

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“…So far, studies in bumblebees have found a large amount of different substance classes such as alkanes, alkenes, aldehydes, methyl-branched alkanes, and wax-type esters to allow separation between groups (Ayasse et al 1995;Sramkova et al 2008). Furthermore, in different eusocial insects different substances seem to be driving separation between groups (e.g., Sledge et al 2001;Smith et al 2015). However, in many of the studies of eusocial insects where an influence of ovary development had been found, it was not investigated independently from possible effects like caste membership or insemination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Strong effects of fertility on the CHC profile and thus distinct queen specific CHC profiles have already been found in social wasps (e.g., Sledge et al 2001Sledge et al , 2004, ants (e.g., Monnin et al 1998;Peeters et al 1999;Liebig et al 2000;Heinze et al 2002;Dietemann et al 2003Dietemann et al , 2005Smith et al 2008Smith et al , 2009, and bumblebees (Ayasse et al 1995;Sramkova et al 2008). However, in the majority of those studies, potential effects of insemination and ovarian development on CHC profiles were not investigated separately.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling the effect of insemination and ovary development on the cuticular hydrocarbon profile in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

2015

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-In many social insects, fertility of the reproductive caste is communicated via cuticular chemistry. Changes in cuticular profiles have been correlated to ovarian development. However, an effect of insemination has been neglected in the majority of studies so far. In Bombus terrestris , we stimulated virgin queens to found colonies without being inseminated and compared their cuticular hydrocarbon profile (CHC) to other females in different insemination and breeding statuses. The analysis of the CHC profiles showed an effect of both insemination and ovarian development on the cuticular profile. Thus, insemination besides ovarian development might be received by workers in bumblebees as a potential cue for fertility.breeding status / cuticular profile / fertility / mating / virgin queen

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“…The queens differ from the workers in the ovarian activity and in the repertoire of tasks realizing in the colony (Billen & Morgan, 1998) food solicitation and oviposition realized by the queens, adultadult trofhallaxis, alarm, foraging realized by the workers, so the queens remain more time in the nest developing the activities of dominance hierarchy and oviposition while the workers were engaged in maintenance activities, defense and success of the colonies (Montagna et al, 2009;Torres et al, 2012). Sledge (2001) noted that when removed the dominant females of P. dominula colonies, the subordinate assumed this position and, consequently, had changes in their ovarian developing and in their cuticular hydrocarbons what became similar to those removed, whose chemical profiles were rich in alkanes and metyl-alkanes.…”

Section: Chmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2001), also play a determining role in inter and intraspecific recognition as already investigated in social bees (Nunes et al, 2009;Abdalla et al, 2003); ants (Antonialli-Junior et al, 2007 and social wasps (Butts et al, 1995;Sledge et al, 2001;Ferreira et al, 2012;Neves et al, 2012Neves et al, , 2013.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraspecific Variation of the Composition of Linear Alkanes in Social Wasp Mischocyttarus consimilis

et al. 2017

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An important attribute of the evolution and maintenance of sociality in insects is their ability to distinguish members of their own colonies by means of chemical signals during their interactions. Of this type of signals, the cuticular hydrocarbons, responsible among other functions, for intraspecific recognition stand out. Linear alkanes are indicated as the class of compounds that would be most involved in water retention in the body of insects, however, some studies have investigated their role as mediators of interactions. Thus it is possible that there is significant intraspecific variation of its composition, so the objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that linear alkanes vary significantly among populations, castes and sexes, as well as between newly emerged females of different ages of the Mischocyttarus consimilis Zikán 1949 wasp. The samples were analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The results show that there is a significant variation between the chemical cuticular profiles of samples from different populations, as well as between castes, sex and newly emergent workers of different ages. Therefore, it is possible to infer that this class of compounds may vary according to genetic differences between populations, but also by different environmental conditions. The differences between castes, sex and ages suggest that these compounds may also be involved in mediating interactions between nestmates.

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Cuticular hydrocarbons and reproductive status in the social wasp Polistes dominulus

Cited by 177 publications

References 53 publications

Surface hydrocarbons of queen eggs regulate worker reproduction in a social insect

Surface hydrocarbons of queen eggs regulate worker reproduction in a social insect

Disentangling the effect of insemination and ovary development on the cuticular hydrocarbon profile in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Intraspecific Variation of the Composition of Linear Alkanes in Social Wasp Mischocyttarus consimilis

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