Maculatic Acids—Sex Attractant Pheromone Components of Bald‐Faced Hornets

Ren, Weiwu; Gries, Regine; McCaughey, Catherine; Derstine, Nathan; Alamsetti, Santosh Kumar; Kurita, Kenji L.; Tu, Lorna; Linington, Roger G.; Britton, Robert; Gries, Gerhard

doi:10.1002/ange.201804666

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…The diterpene compounds that characterize the queen DG secretion are primarily known from the labial glands of bumble bee males 44,45 , where they are hypothesized to serve as sexpheromone components 46 . β-springene in particular has also been identified from the DG of a braconid wasp 47 impatiens could also function in caste recognition, a role that is often ascribed to cuticular hydrocarbons 50,51 . The DG of the honey bee contains ~12 times more secretion in queens than workers and contains caste specific compounds, leading previous researchers to hypothesize that the gland deposits a signal of egg-maternity that distinguishes queen-from worker-laid eggs 52,53 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dufour’s gland analysis reveals caste and physiology specific signals inBombus impatiens

Derstine

Villar

Orlova

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Reproductive division of labor in insect societies is regulated through multiple concurrent mechanisms, primarily chemical and behavioral. Here, we examined if the Dufour’s gland secretion in the primitively eusocial bumble bee Bombus impatiens signals information about caste, social condition, and reproductive status. We chemically analyzed Dufour’s gland contents across castes, age groups, social and reproductive conditions, and examined worker behavioral and antennal responses to gland extracts.We found that workers and queens each possess caste-specific compounds in their Dufour’s glands. Queens and gynes differed from workers based on the presence of diterpene compounds which were absent in workers, whereas four esters were exclusive to workers. These esters, as well as the total amounts of hydrocarbons in the gland, were produced in larger quantities by queenless, fertile workers at specific age groups as compared to queenright, sterile workers. Olfactometer bioassays demonstrated attraction of workers to Dufour’s gland extracts that did not represent a reproductive conflict, while electroantennogram recordings showed higher overall antennal sensitivity in queenless workers. Our results demonstrate that compounds in the Dufour’s gland act as caste- and physiology-specific signals and are used by workers to discriminate between workers of different social and reproductive status.

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