Identification of the Tandem Running Pheromone in Diacamma sp. from Japan (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Authors

  • Naoki Fujiwara Tsujii National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences
  • Kotone Tokunaga Chemical Ecology laboratory, Kyoto Institute of Technology
  • Toshiharu Akino Chemical Ecology laboratory, Kyoto Institute of Technology
  • Kazuki Tsuji Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus
  • Ryohei Yamaoka Chemical Ecology laboratory, Kyoto Institute of Technology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v59i4.516

Keywords:

tandem running, nest emigration, chemical communication, Formicidae, ( )-8-heptadecene.

Abstract

The Japanese queenless ponerine ant Diacamma sp. from Japan employs tandem running during nest relocation, in which a leader ant guides nestmate followers one at a time. We replicated this process by presenting one entire abdominal part of a leader, except for the petiole to followers. When the abdominal part had been rinsed with n-hexane, however, it attracted significantlyfewer followers. This suggests that chemicals on the leader’s abdominal part evoke tandem running. Dissection of abdominal major exocrine glands revealed that the Dufour’s gland was the source of this chemical signal. The chemicals were eluted in the hydrocarbon fraction by silica-gel column chromatography, and the quantitatively major component was estimated as heptadecene (C17:1) through gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GCMS) analysis. The position of the double bond was estimated to be between the 8th and 9th carbons through analysis of the epoxidized compound. Only (Z)-isomers of 8-heptadecene evoked tandem running in the followers. We identified the tandem running pheromone of this ant species to be (Z)-8- heptadecene. (163)

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References

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Published

2014-08-27

How to Cite

Tsujii, N. F., Tokunaga, K., Akino, T., Tsuji, K., & Yamaoka, R. (2014). Identification of the Tandem Running Pheromone in Diacamma sp. from Japan (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Sociobiology, 59(4), 1281–1295. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v59i4.516

Issue

Vol. 59 No. 4 (2012)

Section

Articles

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