| Title: | "Solitary foraging in the ancestral South American ant, Pogonomyrmex vermiculatus. Is it due to constraints in the production or perception of trail pheromones?" |
| Author(s): | Torres-Contreras H; Olivares-Donoso R; Niemeyer HM; |
| Address: | "Departamento de Ciencias Ecologicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile. htoresco@uchile.cl" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10886-006-9240-7 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0098-0331 (Print) 0098-0331 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Several North American species of Pogonomyrmex harvester ants exhibit group foraging, whereas South American species are exclusively solitary foragers. The composition of the secretions of the poison and Dufour glands in the South American species, Pogonomyrmex vermiculatus, were analyzed, and the secretions and their components were tested as trail pheromones in laboratory bioassays. The major compounds in the poison gland were the alkylpyrazines, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, and 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine. The Dufour gland contained five alkanes, from tridecane to heptadecane, with pentadecane being most abundant. In behavioral bioassays, poison gland extracts and the mixture of pyrazines produced a trail pheromone effect, whereas the Dufour gland extracts and the alkanes had no effect on ant locomotion. We conclude that group foraging in P. vermiculatus does not arise from the inability to produce or detect possible pheromones, but rather, from physiological and/or ecological factors" |
| Keywords: | "Animal Communication Animals Ants/*physiology Behavior, Animal/*physiology Biological Assay/methods Pheromones/*chemistry/*physiology Scent Glands/*physiology South America;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineTorres-Contreras, Hugo Olivares-Donoso, Ruby Niemeyer, Hermann M eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2006/12/26 J Chem Ecol. 2007 Feb; 33(2):435-40. doi: 10.1007/s10886-006-9240-7. Epub 2006 Dec 23" |
