Stingless Bees: Chemical Differences and Potential Functions in Nannotrigona testaceicornis and Plebeia droryana Males and Workers

Abstract

Cuticular wax, abdominal and cephalic extracts of foraging workers and males of Nannotrigona testaceicornis and Plebeia droryana, from the "Aretuzina" farm in São Simão, SP, Brazil, were analyzed by GC-MS. The principal constituents were hydrocarbons, terpenes, aldehydes, esters, steroids, alcohols, and fatty acids. Interspecific differences for both cuticular wax and cephalic extracts were found. The composition of cuticular wax and cephalic extracts was similar at the intraspecific level, with minor component differences between males and workers. Abdominal extracts differentiated sexes (male and worker) at the intraspecific and interspecific levels. The main chemical components in abdominal extracts of N. testaceicornis workers and males were geranylgeranyl acetate and (Z)-9-nonacosene, respectively. The principal components of abdominal extracts from P. droryana workers and males were tetradecanal and unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic acids), respectively. A secondary alcohol, (S)-2-nonanol, was detected in Plebeia droryana males only, but not in workers. Preliminary field experiments showed that (S)-(+)-2-heptanol and (S)-(+)-2-heptanol/(S)-(+)-2-nonanol (1:1) attracted workers of P. droryana, N. testaceicornis,and Frieseomelitta silvestrii. However, males did not respond suggesting that these compounds do not function as alarm or recruitment pheromones. In addition, racemic mixtures were inactive.

Update on the defensive chemicals of the little black ant, Monomorium minimum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

“…β-springene, a diterpene, was originally isolated from a skin (dorsal) gland of the springbok antelope, Antidorcas marsupialis, from Africa (Burger et al, 1978(Burger et al, , 1981. It has been found in other mammals such as the white-lipped peccary, Tayassu pecari (Waterhouse et al, 2001), and collared peccary, Tayassu tajacu (Waterhouse et al, 1996); two reptilians, Cuvier's dwarf caiman, Paleosuchus palpebrosus, and the smooth-fronted caiman, Paleosuchus trigonatus (Schulz et al, 2003); four species of oribatid mites, Oribotritia banksi, O. berlesei, O. hermanni, and O. storkani (Raspotnig et al, 2011); five species of bumblebees, Bombus griseocollis (Bertsch et al, 2004), B. hypnorum (Cahlikova et al, 2004), B. morrisoni, B. rufocinctus (Bertsch et al, 2008), B. semenoviellus (Hovorka et al, 2006); and two stingless bees, Melipona beecheii (Cruz-López, et al, 2005) and Nannotrigona testaceicornis (Pianaro et al, 2009). β-springene was also found in the Dufour's gland of the ectoparasitoid Habrobracon hebetor (Say) where its abundance varied significantly with age (Howard et al, 2003).…”

Floral scents of a deceptive plant are hyperdiverse and under population-specific phenotypic selection

“…For the five compounds under phenotypic selection that we were able to chemically identify (i.e., 2-nonanol, 2-heptanol, sabinene, 4-terpinenol and α-terpinene), information on their attractiveness to pollinators of A. maculatum is lacking. However, the aliphatic compounds 2-heptanol and 2-nonanol are known, together or alone, as attractants for bees (Meliponini 89,90 ) and kleptoparasitic flies 91 , and as (sex-)pheromones of female Diptera (Cecidomyiidae 92 ) and female non-Diptera (Trichoptera 93 ). The monoterpenoids sabinene, α-terpinene, and 4terpinenol are defence substances of some insects (Coleoptera 94,95 , Lepidoptera 96 ) that repel Coleoptera 97 , but are used by Hymenoptera 98 and Lepidoptera 99 for host-finding and as oviposition stimulants.…”

Ecologia química de Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier, Scaptotrigona aff. depilis Moure e Solenopsis saevissima Smith

“…A presença majoritária de cetonas nos machos, 2-alcanóis nas rainhas virgens e hidrocarbonetos nas rainhas fisogástricas precisa ser investigada. extratos cefálicos e abdominais de machos de Plebeia droryana (Pianaro et al, 2009). A identificação da configuração absoluta é importante para testes de campo (Mori, 2007).…”

“…Os lipídeos cuticulares das abelhas sem ferrão são principalmente constituídos por hidrocarbonetos (alcanos, metil alcanos, alcenos e alcadienos) (Nunes et al, 2009a;Pianaro et al, 2007Pianaro et al, , 2009. Estes compostos cutículares em insetos sociais são responsáveis pelo reconhecimento dos companheiros de um mesmo ninho, pela identificação de membros de castas diferentes e podem auxiliar na quimiotaxonomia das espécies, pois são espécie-específicos, além de serem importantes para evitar a dessecação da cutícula 11 (Ferreira-Caliman et al, 2010;Nunes et al, 2011;Singer, 1998).…”