« Previous Abstract[Evaluation of the rewarding effects of drugs by conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm: properties of volatile organic solvents and uncontrolled newly-abused drugs]    Next AbstractComparison of three types of traps baited with sexual pheromones for ambrosia beetle Megaplatypus mutatus (Coleoptera: Platypodinae) in poplar plantations »

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Title:		Identification of a queen and king recognition pheromone in the subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes
Author(s):		Funaro CF; Boroczky K; Vargo EL; Schal C;
Address:		"Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology and W.M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695; colin.funaro@gmail.com coby@ncsu.edu. Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843"
Journal Title:		Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Year:		2018
Volume:		20180319
Issue:		15
Page Number:		3888 - 3893
DOI:		10.1073/pnas.1721419115
ISSN/ISBN:		1091-6490 (Electronic) 0027-8424 (Print) 0027-8424 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Chemical communication is fundamental to success in social insect colonies. Species-, colony-, and caste-specific blends of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) and other chemicals have been well documented as pheromones, mediating important behavioral and physiological aspects of social insects. More specifically, royal pheromones used by queens (and kings in termites) enable workers to recognize and care for these vital individuals and maintain the reproductive division of labor. In termites, however, no royal-recognition pheromones have been identified to date. In the current study, solvent extracts of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes were analyzed to assess differences in cuticular compounds among castes. We identified a royal-specific hydrocarbon-heneicosane-and several previously unreported and highly royal enriched long-chain alkanes. When applied to glass dummies, heneicosane elicited worker behavioral responses identical to those elicited by live termite queens, including increased vibratory shaking and antennation. Further, the behavioral effects of heneicosane were amplified when presented with nestmate termite workers' cuticular extracts, underscoring the importance of chemical context in termite royal recognition. Thus, heneicosane is a royal-recognition pheromone that is active in both queens and kings of R. flavipes The use of heneicosane as a queen and king recognition pheromone by termites suggests that CHCs evolved as royal pheromones approximately 150 million years ago, approximately 50 million years before their first use as queen-recognition pheromones in social Hymenoptera. We therefore infer that termites and social Hymenoptera convergently evolved the use of these ubiquitous compounds in royal recognition"
Keywords:		"Alkanes/chemistry/metabolism Animals Behavior, Animal Biological Evolution Female Hydrocarbons/*chemistry/metabolism Isoptera/*chemistry/genetics/*physiology Male Pheromones/*chemistry/metabolism Social Dominance chemical ecology cuticular hydrocarbons qu;"
Notes:		"MedlineFunaro, Colin F Boroczky, Katalin Vargo, Edward L Schal, Coby eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2018/03/21 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Apr 10; 115(15):3888-3893. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1721419115. Epub 2018 Mar 19"