Journal
JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY
Volume 50, Issue 10, Pages 935-941Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2004.07.005
Keywords
cuticular hydrocarbons; nestmate recognition; social wasps; ontogeny
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In social insects, cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) play an important role in nestmate discrimination processes, but young individuals are usually not discriminated. We studied CHC changes in young workers of the social wasp Polistes dominulus. A quantitative estimation demonstrated that total quantities of CHCs increased after emergence, with branched alkanes increasing drastically when compared with other classes of hydrocarbons. The relative quantity of longer-chain compounds increased with respect to shorter ones; unsaturated compounds decreased. These changes might reduce the capacity of the cuticle to acquire compounds of environmental origin. We then tested whether individuals acquire hydrocarbons from the environment, and whether this capability equally characterises newly emerged and mature wasps. We exposed wasps of two age classes (adults younger or older than 24h) to four linear hydrocarbons in turn, and observed how nestmates reacted to their re-introduction into the natal colony. Exposed young wasps elicited significantly more aggressive responses than control sisters; but treated wasps older than 24 h were generally accepted by nestmates. Chemical assays showed that exposed young wasps readily absorbed hydrocarbons; older ones did not incorporate hydrocarbons, suggesting that the chemical profiles of mature wasps are less prone to chemical shifts than those of newly emerged wasps. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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