Long-term stability of hornet cuticular hydrocarbons facilitates chemotaxonomy using museum specimens

Martin, Stephen J.; Zhong, Weihao; Drijfhout, Falko P.

doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.01158.x

Cited by 29 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…A colony usually stays in the same nest for its 20-30 year lifespan (Gordon, 1992). An accumulation of HCs in the midden and on the soil is not unexpected because of the stable nature of these compounds (Martin et al, 2009). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrocarbons on Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) Middens Guide Foragers to the Nest

2011

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Colony-specific cuticular hydrocarbons are used by social insects in nestmate recognition. Here, we showed that hydrocarbons found on the mound of Pogonomyrmex barbatus nests facilitate the return of foragers to the nest. Colony-specific hydrocarbons, which ants use to distinguish nestmates from non-nestmates, are found on the midden pebbles placed on the nest mound. Midden hydrocarbons occur in a concentration gradient, growing stronger near the nest entrance, which is in the center of a 1-2 m diameter nest mound. Foraging behavior was disrupted when the gradient of hydrocarbons was altered experimentally. When midden material was diluted with artificial pebbles lacking the colony-specific hydrocarbons, the speed of returning foragers decreased significantly. The chemical environment of the nest mound contributes to the regulation of foraging behavior in harvester ants.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrocarbons on Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) Middens Guide Foragers to the Nest

2011

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“…The latter can also be extracted using solvents because specimens can be returned to the exhibition. It has been shown that CHCs can remain stable even if specimens have been stored over decades under relatively constant conditions and this also holds true for more unstable unsaturated hydrocarbons (Page et al , 1990; Martin et al , 2009).…”

Section: Taxonomic Benefits Of Using Chcsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Cuticular hydrocarbon profiles as a taxonomic tool: advantages, limitations and technical aspects

Kather

Martin

2012

Physiological Entomology

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104

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Abstract. Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are expressed on an insect's cuticle and are one of the major factors allowing insects to identify members of their own species, colony and gender. As a result of their species-specificity, CHCs are increasingly used to delimit species in addition to more conventional methods, such as morphology or genetic markers, and so play an important role in chemotaxonomy. Species vary in the type of CHCs that they produce, as well as in the relative quantities of shared compounds. This review summarizes not only how taxonomists may differentiate between species based on CHC profiles, but also the incentive for using CHC composition as taxonomic tool. Benefits regarding the identification of cryptic species and early signs of reproductive isolation are then discussed, giving examples from studies of taxonomy, behaviour and biosynthesis. For taxonomic characters to reliably indicate species boundaries, their limitations need to be known. Potential problems caused by environmental effects, intra-species variation in profiles and other technical issues are highlighted, and suggestions are made regarding their avoidance. It remains a challenge to determine the variation beyond which two species can be called independent; a problem shared by most methods of delimitation. Recently, there has been a shift towards using a combination of different taxonomic tools, both molecular and non-molecular, to test observed species differences.

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“…Long-chain hydrocarbons are unreactive and not susceptible to evaporation in storage; freezing does not significantly cause quantitative or qualitative changes in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles compared to fresh samples [17]. To avoid responses to non-nestmates, forager mimics used at a given colony were made using extracts from ants of the same colony.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions with Combined Chemical Cues Inform Harvester Ant Foragers' Decisions to Leave the Nest in Search of Food

2013

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Social insect colonies operate without central control or any global assessment of what needs to be done by workers. Colony organization arises from the responses of individuals to local cues. Red harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) regulate foraging using interactions between returning and outgoing foragers. The rate at which foragers return with seeds, a measure of food availability, sets the rate at which outgoing foragers leave the nest on foraging trips. We used mimics to test whether outgoing foragers inside the nest respond to the odor of food, oleic acid, the odor of the forager itself, cuticular hydrocarbons, or a combination of both with increased foraging activity. We compared foraging activity, the rate at which foragers passed a line on a trail, before and after the addition of mimics. The combination of both odors, those of food and of foragers, is required to stimulate foraging. The addition of blank mimics, mimics coated with food odor alone, or mimics coated with forager odor alone did not increase foraging activity. We compared the rates at which foragers inside the nest interacted with other ants, blank mimics, and mimics coated with a combination of food and forager odor. Foragers inside the nest interacted more with mimics coated with combined forager/seed odors than with blank mimics, and these interactions had the same effect as those with other foragers. Outgoing foragers inside the nest entrance are stimulated to leave the nest in search of food by interacting with foragers returning with seeds. By using the combined odors of forager cuticular hydrocarbons and of seeds, the colony captures precise information, on the timescale of seconds, about the current availability of food.

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Long-term stability of hornet cuticular hydrocarbons facilitates chemotaxonomy using museum specimens

Cited by 29 publications

References 32 publications

Hydrocarbons on Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) Middens Guide Foragers to the Nest

Hydrocarbons on Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) Middens Guide Foragers to the Nest

Cuticular hydrocarbon profiles as a taxonomic tool: advantages, limitations and technical aspects

Interactions with Combined Chemical Cues Inform Harvester Ant Foragers' Decisions to Leave the Nest in Search of Food

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