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Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profiles (cuticular + hydrocarbon_profile)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Life Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

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

BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 4 2009
STEPHEN J. MARTIN
Cuticular hydrocarbons are key compounds used for insect chemical communication and their species-specificity makes them of great utility to chemotaxonomists. However, very little is known about their long-term stability in relation to their use as reliable taxonomic tools. We compared the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of fresh extracts from four hornet (Vespa) species with extracts from specimens that were frozen for 1 year and of those stored in insect display boxes for 20 years. Cuticular hydrocarbon profiles were qualitatively very stable, maintaining their species-specific profiles even after 20 years. The long-term stability of cuticular hydrocarbons in hymenopterans opens up the possibility of using museum collections for chemotaxonomy studies and helping with the delineation of species in difficult groups. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 96, 732,737. [source]

Cuticular hydrocarbons in workers of the slave-making ant Polyergus samurai and its slave, Formica japonica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

ENTOMOLOGICAL SCIENCE, Issue 3 2003
Zhibin LIU
Abstract Comparisons of cuticular hydrocarbons between workers of the dulotic ant Polyergus samurai and its slave, Formica japonica, were carried out. Gas chromatography,mass spectrometry showed that the slave-maker and its slave shared the major cuticular hydrocarbon compounds, but possessed several minor products unique to each species. No difference in hydrocarbon composition was detected between enslaved and free-living F. japonica workers, suggesting that association with P. samurai has no qualitative effect on hydrocarbon composition in these ants. Principal component analyses of the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles (CHP) revealed that (i) CHP was species specific in a given mixed colony; and (ii) among mixed colonies, P. samurai workers had species-colony specific CHP, while the same feature was not always found in enslaved and free-living F. japonica workers. Therefore, a ,uniform colony odor' in terms of CHP is not achieved in naturally mixed colonies of P. samurai nor those of its slaves, F. japonica. [source]

Nest Hydrocarbons as Cues for Philopatry in a Paper Wasp

ETHOLOGY, Issue 5 2005
A. Sumana
Philopatric behavior has been demonstrated in a wide taxonomic spread of animals. In temperate environments, overwintered Polistes wasp foundresses often return to their natal nest prior to initiating colony construction. Previous research has shown that these spring foundresses can identify the natal nest in the absence of landmark and gross morphological cues. Hydrocarbons are essential recognition cues for Polistes nest and nestmate discrimination, but cuticular hydrocarbon profiles can become homogenized when foundresses overwinter in mixed colony groups. We examined the hydrocarbon profiles of Polistes dominulus foundresses and nests before and after an overwintering period, and found that the hydrocarbon profiles of nests remain unique over time and that this uniqueness is influenced by the original foundresses. Our data raise the possibility that in returning to the natal nest, foundresses reacquire their colony-specific signature, which may play a role in the formation of cooperative associations. [source]

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

BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 4 2009
STEPHEN J. MARTIN
Cuticular hydrocarbons are key compounds used for insect chemical communication and their species-specificity makes them of great utility to chemotaxonomists. However, very little is known about their long-term stability in relation to their use as reliable taxonomic tools. We compared the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of fresh extracts from four hornet (Vespa) species with extracts from specimens that were frozen for 1 year and of those stored in insect display boxes for 20 years. Cuticular hydrocarbon profiles were qualitatively very stable, maintaining their species-specific profiles even after 20 years. The long-term stability of cuticular hydrocarbons in hymenopterans opens up the possibility of using museum collections for chemotaxonomy studies and helping with the delineation of species in difficult groups. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 96, 732,737. [source]

Evolution of species-specific cuticular hydrocarbon patterns in Formica ants

BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 1 2008
STEPHEN J. MARTIN
A comparison of the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of thirteen sympatric species of Formica ants from Finland, along with a subset of five species from the British Isles, was conducted. This permitted a comparison of the evolution of these profiles within a single genus and the stability of these profiles over large geographical and evolutionary distances. The study indicated that species-specific hydrocarbon profiles remained remarkably stable between Finland and the British Isles and were not influenced by ecological factors such as soil or vegetation types. This stability allowed candidate cuticular hydrocarbons or groups of hydrocarbons to be identified that may constitute species-specific recognition cues in these ants. In Formica, cuticular hydrocarbon composition has evolved down two distinct paths, either elevated production of Z -9-alkenes or the production of various dimethylalkanes. Evolution of hydrocarbons can be predicted for the other five Formica species for which the cuticular profiles are known. The Z -9-alkenes, dienes, and various distinctive combinations of dimethylalkanes can be used as unique species recognition cues in the Formica ants and this parallels the evolution of species-specific cuticular hydrocarbon composition in the Drosophila flies. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 95, 131,140. [source]