Elsevier

Animal Behaviour

Volume 62, Issue 1, July 2001, Pages 165-171
Animal Behaviour

Regular Articles
Deciphering the recognition signature within the cuticular chemical profile of paper wasps

https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2001.1714Get rights and content

Abstract

In social insects the mixture of cuticular hydrocarbons is generally considered to act as a recognition pheromone. However, little information exists on the relative importance of single compounds or of different classes of hydrocarbons. We tested the importance for nestmate recognition of a series of alkenes, methyl-branched alkanes and linear alkanes present in the cuticular profile of the social wasp Polistes dominulus. We applied the hydrocarbons on to live wasps and observed the behaviour of nestmates once the treated individual attempted to enter the nest. Linear alkanes had no effect upon the recognition response, whereas wasps treated with methyl-branched alkanes or alkenes were attacked. This is the first systematic evaluation of the role of hydrocarbon classes as recognition cues and begins to define the recognition signature within the cuticular profile for a genus regarded as a model organism for the study of recognition in animals.

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  • Cited by (0)

    f1

    Correspondence: F. R. Dani, Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica dell'Università di Firenze, via Romana 17, 50129 Firenze, Italy (email:[email protected]).

    f2

    G. R. Jones and S. H. Spencer are at the School of Chemistry and Physics, Lennard-Jones Laboratories, Keele University, Staffs ST5 5BG, U.K.

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