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Bioessays

Title:		The origin and evolution of social insect queen pheromones: Novel hypotheses and outstanding problems
Author(s):		Oi CA; van Zweden JS; Oliveira RC; Van Oystaeyen A; Nascimento FS; Wenseleers T;
Address:		"Department of Biology, Laboratory of Socioecology & Social Evolution, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Departamento de Biologia da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciencias e Letras de Ribeirao Preto, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil"
Journal Title:		Bioessays
Year:		2015
Volume:		20150427
Issue:		7
Page Number:		808 - 821
DOI:		10.1002/bies.201400180
ISSN/ISBN:		1521-1878 (Electronic) 0265-9247 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Queen pheromones, which signal the presence of a fertile queen and induce daughter workers to remain sterile, are considered to play a key role in regulating the reproductive division of labor of insect societies. Although queen pheromones were long thought to be highly taxon-specific, recent studies have shown that structurally related long-chain hydrocarbons act as conserved queen signals across several independently evolved lineages of social insects. These results imply that social insect queen pheromones are very ancient and likely derived from an ancestral signalling system that was already present in their common solitary ancestors. Based on these new insights, we here review the literature and speculate on what signal precursors social insect queen pheromones may have evolved from. Furthermore, we provide compelling evidence that these pheromones should best be seen as honest signals of fertility as opposed to suppressive agents that chemically sterilize the workers against their own best interests"
Keywords:		Animals Biological Evolution Insect Hormones/*physiology Insecta/*physiology Reproduction Sex Attractants/*physiology cuticular hydrocarbons fertility signals queen pheromones reproductive conflict reproductive division of labour social Hymenoptera social;
Notes:		"MedlineOi, Cintia A van Zweden, Jelle S Oliveira, Ricardo C Van Oystaeyen, Annette Nascimento, Fabio S Wenseleers, Tom eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Review 2015/04/29 Bioessays. 2015 Jul; 37(7):808-21. doi: 10.1002/bies.201400180. Epub 2015 Apr 27"