Cuticular hydrocarbons correlate with queen reproductive status in native and invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile, Mayr)
In insect societies, chemical communication plays an important role in colony reproduction and individual social status. Many studies have indicated that cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are the main chemical compounds encoding reproductive status. However, these studies have largely focused on queenle...
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2018
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| Acceso en línea: | https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_19326203_v13_n2_p_Abril http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_19326203_v13_n2_p_Abril |
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paper:paper_19326203_v13_n2_p_Abril2023-06-08T16:30:46Z Cuticular hydrocarbons correlate with queen reproductive status in native and invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile, Mayr) cuticular hydrocarbon hydrocarbon unclassified drug hydrocarbon age animal experiment Argentina Article chemical analysis colonial species controlled study egg laying female fertility insect society introduced species invasive species Linepithema humile male native species nonhuman organism colony queen (insect) reproduction reproductive behavior seasonal variation Spain animal animal structures ant introduced species metabolism physiology reproduction season Animal Structures Animals Ants Female Hydrocarbons Introduced Species Male Reproduction Seasons In insect societies, chemical communication plays an important role in colony reproduction and individual social status. Many studies have indicated that cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are the main chemical compounds encoding reproductive status. However, these studies have largely focused on queenless or monogynous species whose workers are capable of egg laying and have mainly explored the mechanisms underlying queen-worker or worker-worker reproductive conflicts. Less is known about what occurs in highly polygynous ant species with permanently sterile workers. Here, we used the Argentine ant as a model to examine the role of CHCs in communicating reproductive information in such insect societies. The Argentine ant is unicolonial, highly polygynous, and polydomous. We identified several CHCs whose presence and levels were correlated with queen age, reproductive status, and fertility. Our results also provide new insights into queen executions in the Argentine ant, a distinctive feature displayed by this species in its introduced range. Each spring, just before new sexuals appear, workers eliminate up to 90% of the mated queens in their colonies. We discovered that queens that survived execution had different CHC profiles from queens present before and during execution. More specifically, levels of some CHCs were higher in the survivors, suggesting that workers could eliminate queens based on their chemical profiles. In addition, queen CHC profiles differed based on season and species range (native vs. introduced). Overall, the results of this study provide new evidence that CHCs serve as queen signals and do more than just regulate worker reproduction. © 2018 Abril et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. 2018 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_19326203_v13_n2_p_Abril http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_19326203_v13_n2_p_Abril |
| institution |
Universidad de Buenos Aires |
| institution_str |
I-28 |
| repository_str |
R-134 |
| collection |
Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA) |
| topic |
cuticular hydrocarbon hydrocarbon unclassified drug hydrocarbon age animal experiment Argentina Article chemical analysis colonial species controlled study egg laying female fertility insect society introduced species invasive species Linepithema humile male native species nonhuman organism colony queen (insect) reproduction reproductive behavior seasonal variation Spain animal animal structures ant introduced species metabolism physiology reproduction season Animal Structures Animals Ants Female Hydrocarbons Introduced Species Male Reproduction Seasons |
| spellingShingle |
cuticular hydrocarbon hydrocarbon unclassified drug hydrocarbon age animal experiment Argentina Article chemical analysis colonial species controlled study egg laying female fertility insect society introduced species invasive species Linepithema humile male native species nonhuman organism colony queen (insect) reproduction reproductive behavior seasonal variation Spain animal animal structures ant introduced species metabolism physiology reproduction season Animal Structures Animals Ants Female Hydrocarbons Introduced Species Male Reproduction Seasons Cuticular hydrocarbons correlate with queen reproductive status in native and invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile, Mayr) |
| topic_facet |
cuticular hydrocarbon hydrocarbon unclassified drug hydrocarbon age animal experiment Argentina Article chemical analysis colonial species controlled study egg laying female fertility insect society introduced species invasive species Linepithema humile male native species nonhuman organism colony queen (insect) reproduction reproductive behavior seasonal variation Spain animal animal structures ant introduced species metabolism physiology reproduction season Animal Structures Animals Ants Female Hydrocarbons Introduced Species Male Reproduction Seasons |
| description |
In insect societies, chemical communication plays an important role in colony reproduction and individual social status. Many studies have indicated that cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are the main chemical compounds encoding reproductive status. However, these studies have largely focused on queenless or monogynous species whose workers are capable of egg laying and have mainly explored the mechanisms underlying queen-worker or worker-worker reproductive conflicts. Less is known about what occurs in highly polygynous ant species with permanently sterile workers. Here, we used the Argentine ant as a model to examine the role of CHCs in communicating reproductive information in such insect societies. The Argentine ant is unicolonial, highly polygynous, and polydomous. We identified several CHCs whose presence and levels were correlated with queen age, reproductive status, and fertility. Our results also provide new insights into queen executions in the Argentine ant, a distinctive feature displayed by this species in its introduced range. Each spring, just before new sexuals appear, workers eliminate up to 90% of the mated queens in their colonies. We discovered that queens that survived execution had different CHC profiles from queens present before and during execution. More specifically, levels of some CHCs were higher in the survivors, suggesting that workers could eliminate queens based on their chemical profiles. In addition, queen CHC profiles differed based on season and species range (native vs. introduced). Overall, the results of this study provide new evidence that CHCs serve as queen signals and do more than just regulate worker reproduction. © 2018 Abril et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| title |
Cuticular hydrocarbons correlate with queen reproductive status in native and invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile, Mayr) |
| title_short |
Cuticular hydrocarbons correlate with queen reproductive status in native and invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile, Mayr) |
| title_full |
Cuticular hydrocarbons correlate with queen reproductive status in native and invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile, Mayr) |
| title_fullStr |
Cuticular hydrocarbons correlate with queen reproductive status in native and invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile, Mayr) |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Cuticular hydrocarbons correlate with queen reproductive status in native and invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile, Mayr) |
| title_sort |
cuticular hydrocarbons correlate with queen reproductive status in native and invasive argentine ants (linepithema humile, mayr) |
| publishDate |
2018 |
| url |
https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_19326203_v13_n2_p_Abril http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_19326203_v13_n2_p_Abril |
| _version_ |
1768543297842708480 |