The Scent of the Waggle Dance

Thom, Corinna; Gilley, David C.; Hooper, Judith; Esch, Harald

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050228

Cited by 128 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In the social wasp, Vespa crabro, cuticular hydrocarbons including (Z)-9-tricosene are involved in the phenomenon of nestmate recognition (Ruther et al 2002). Thom et al (2007) reported that (Z )-9-tricosene along with three other hydrocarbons could be isolated from the scent of waggle-dancing foragers of the honeybee (Apis mellifera). These compounds are semiochemicals, inducing worker recruitment to the food source.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male-specific ( Z )-9-tricosene stimulates female mating behaviour in the spider Pholcus beijingensis

Xiao

Zhang

2010

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Chemical signals play an important role in spider sexual communication, yet the chemistry of spider sex pheromones remains poorly understood. Chemical identification of male-produced pheromonemediating sexual behaviour in spiders has also, to our knowledge, not been reported before. This study aimed to examine whether chemically mediated strategies are used by males of the spider Pholcus beijingensis for increasing the probability of copulation. Based on data from gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, electroantennography assay and a series of behavioural tests, we verified that (Z)-9-tricosene is a male-specific compound in the spider P. beijingensis. This compound acts as an aphrodisiac: it increases the likelihood that a female will mate. Mate-searching males release (Z )-9-tricosene to stimulate sexual behaviour of conspecific females. In the two-choice assay, however, sexually receptive females show no preference to the chambers containing (Z )-9-tricosene. This indicates that the male pheromone of P. beijingensis is not an attractant per se to the conspecific females. This is, to our knowledge, the first identification of a male-produced aphrodisiac pheromone in spiders.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male-specific ( Z )-9-tricosene stimulates female mating behaviour in the spider Pholcus beijingensis

Xiao

Zhang

2010

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…First, it may be the case that dances performed by foragers in multiple-patriline colonies are more attractive to their nest mates, prompting a greater number of workers to orient and remain attentive to them. Our analysis of focal dancers did not indicate that dances performed in genetically diverse colonies conveyed more ''excitement'' or ''enthusiasm'' [at least, based on their tempo (Seeley et al, 2000)] than those performed in genetically uniform colonies, although they could have been more appealing to potential recruits based on parameters that we did not evaluate, such as the amplitude of the brief waggle movements, the release by dancers of pheromones that modulate nest mate behaviour (Thom et al, 2007), or a overall levels of activity on the dance floor. The fact that the focal dances were longer on average in multiple-patriline colonies may reflect an aspect of attractiveness that was not captured by our study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Recruitment-dance signals draw larger audiences when honey bee colonies have multiple patrilines

2010

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Honey bee queens (Apis mellifera) who mate with multiple males produce colonies that are filled with numerous genetically distinct patrilines of workers. A genetically diverse colony benefits from an enhanced foraging effort, fuelled in part by an increase in the number of recruitment signals that are produced by foragers. However, the influence of patriline diversity on the attention paid to these signals by audiences of potentially receptive workers remains unexplored. To determine whether recruitment dances performed by foragers in multiple-patriline colonies attract a greater number of dance followers than dances in colonies that lack patriline diversity, we trained workers from multiple-and singlepatriline colonies to forage in a greenhouse and monitored their dance-following activity back in the hives. On average, more workers followed a dance if it was performed in a multiple-patriline colony rather than a single-patriline colony (33% increase), and for a greater number of dance circuits per follower. Furthermore, dance-following workers in multiple-patriline colonies were more likely to exit their hive after following a dance, although this did not translate to a difference in colony-level exit rates between treatment types. Recruiting nest mates to profitable food sources through dance communication is critical to a colony's foraging success and long-term fitness; polyandrous queens produce colonies that benefit not only from increased recruitment signalling, but also from the generation of larger and more attentive audiences of signal receivers. This study highlights the importance of integrating responses of both signal senders and receivers to understand more fully the success of animal-communication systems.

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“…SPME has been used previously to characterize volatile chemical profiles of honey bee queens (Gilley et al 2006;Huang et al 2009) and waggle-dancing honey bee workers (Thom et al 2007). We used 65-μm polydimethylsiloxane divinylbenzene SPME fibers (Supelco SPME fiber 57326U; Sigma-Aldrich, Bellefonte, PA, USA) because they capture the largest number of queen-produced volatiles compared to other fiber types (Gilley et al 2006;Huang et al 2009).…”

Section: Sampling Queen Volatile Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Queen-produced volatiles change dynamically during reproductive swarming and are associated with changes in honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker behavior

et al. 2015

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-During colony fission, honey bee workers are exquisitely sensitive to the presence of their queen in airborne swarms and bivouacs and will abandon swarming if she is absent. However, it is not known whether swarming queens produce a chemical bouquet that is distinct from non-swarming queens, containing either unique chemicals or altered proportions of chemicals. We found that queens emitted higher quantities and greater numbers of unique volatiles at liftoff than they did prior to swarming or in clustered bivouacs, and swarming workers tended to be attracted to these liftoff volatile blends. Pentadecane and heptadecane were collected most frequently and emitted in significantly higher quantities by queens at liftoff; these compounds have been described as pheromone components in other social insects, but not yet in honey bees. Our results suggest that volatile emission by queens is more dynamic than previously thought and that changes in their chemical signals may play a role in regulating the behavior of swarming workers.honey bees / chemical ecology / pheromones / worker behavior / swarming

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The Scent of the Waggle Dance

Cited by 128 publications

References 23 publications

Male-specific ( Z )-9-tricosene stimulates female mating behaviour in the spider Pholcus beijingensis

Male-specific ( Z )-9-tricosene stimulates female mating behaviour in the spider Pholcus beijingensis

Recruitment-dance signals draw larger audiences when honey bee colonies have multiple patrilines

Queen-produced volatiles change dynamically during reproductive swarming and are associated with changes in honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker behavior

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