Monomorium ant's trail pheromones: Glandular source, optimal concentration, longevity and specificity

article i nfo Article history: Many ants use pheromone trails to organize collective foraging. Trail pheromones are produced from different glandular sources and they may be specific to a single species or shared by a number of species. I investigated the source of trail pheromones in three Monomorium ant species: Monomorium niloticum (Emery), M. najrane (Collingwood & Agosti) and M. mayri (Forel). I also examined the optimal concentration, longevity and specificity of the pheromones. M. niloticum and M. najrane secrete trail pheromone from their venom glands, whereas M. mayri secrete trail pheromone from its Dufour's gland. The optimum concentration was 1.0 and 0.1 gaster equivalent (GE)/30 cm trail in M. niloticum, 1.0 GE in M. najrane and 5.0 GE in M. mayri. Longevity of the optimal concentration was about one day for all species. There is no species specificity among the three species of Monomorium in their trail pheromone.

[1]  E. D. Morgan,et al.  Trail pheromone of the ant Tetramorium caespitum L. , 2004, Naturwissenschaften.

[2]  B. Hölldobler,et al.  All-trans geranylgeranyl acetate and geranylgeraniol, recruitment pheromone components in the dufour gland of the ponerine antEctatomma ruidum Pheromones, 100 [1] , 1995, Naturwissenschaften.

[3]  A. Mashaly,et al.  Source, optimal dose concentration and longevity of trail pheromone in two Monomorium ants (Formicidae: Hymenoptera) , 2010 .

[4]  R. Silverstein,et al.  The major component of the trail pheromone of the leaf-cutting ant,Atta sexdens rubropilosa forel , 1979, Journal of Chemical Ecology.

[5]  S. Key,et al.  Effects of gaster extract trail concentration on the trail following behaviour of the Argentine ant, Iridomyrmex humilis (Mayr) , 1981 .

[6]  F. Ratnieks,et al.  Communication in ants , 2006, Current Biology.

[7]  R. Torgerson,et al.  persistence of army ant chemical trails and their significance in the ecitonine-ecitophile association (Formicidae: Ecitonini) , 1970 .

[8]  E. Morgan,et al.  Trail pheromone of the antTetramorium impurum and model compounds: Structure-activity comparisons , 1990, Journal of Chemical Ecology.

[9]  E. Wilson Chemical communication among workers of the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima (Fr. Smith) 1. The Organization of Mass-Foraging , 1962 .

[10]  D. Agosti,et al.  Formicidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (Part 2) , 1996 .

[11]  A. Hefetz,et al.  Trail Pheromone of Ponerine Ant Gnamptogenys striatula: 4-Methylgeranyl Esters from Dufour's Gland , 2002, Journal of Chemical Ecology.

[12]  M. Cammaerts,et al.  The trail of the african urticating antTetramorium aculeatum: Source, potency, and workers' behavior (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) , 1994, Journal of Insect Behavior.

[13]  C. S. Lofgren,et al.  The orientation inducer pheromone of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta , 1990 .

[14]  E. Morgan,et al.  Recruitment pheromones in the ants Aphaenogaster albisetosus and A. cockerelli (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) , 1995 .

[15]  B. Heterick Revision of the Australian ants of the genus Monomorium (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) , 2001 .

[16]  M. Blum The source and specificity of trail pheromones in Termitopone, Monomorium and Huberia, and their relation to those of some other ants , 2009 .

[17]  D. Turnbull Pheromones and Animal Behaviour , 2005 .

[18]  B. Hölldobler Chemische Strategie beim Nahrungserwerb der Diebsameise (Solenopsis fugax Latr.) und der Pharaoameise (Monomorium pharaonis L.) , 1973, Oecologia.

[19]  C. Castracani,et al.  Glandular sources of recruitment, trail, and propaganda semiochemicals in the slave-making ant Polyergus rufescens , 2001 .

[20]  C. S. Lofgren,et al.  Biochemical and behavioral evidence foe hybridization between fire ants,Solenopsis invicta andSolenopsis richteri (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) , 1989, Journal of Chemical Ecology.

[21]  J. Pasteels,et al.  Dosage biologique de la phéromone de piste chez les fourrageuses et les reines deMyrmica rubra , 1974, Insectes Sociaux.

[22]  E. Morgan Trail pheromones of ants. , 2009 .

[23]  E. Wilson Chemical communication among workers of the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima (Fr. Smith) 2. An information analysis of the odour trail , 1962 .

[24]  M. Blum,et al.  Laboratory investigations of the trail-following responses of four species of leaf-cutting ants with notes on the specificity of a trail pheromone ofAtta texana (Buckley) , 1974, Insectes Sociaux.

[25]  M. Blum,et al.  Trail Marking Substance of the Texas Leaf-Cutting Ant: Source and Potency , 1963, Science.

[26]  E. Morgan,et al.  Contents of poison apparatus and their relation to trail-following in the antDaceton armigerum , 1992, Journal of Chemical Ecology.

[27]  T. D. Fitzgerald,et al.  Communal Foraging Behavior and Recruitment Communication in Gloveria sp. , 1998, Journal of Chemical Ecology.

[28]  W H Bossert,et al.  The analysis of olfactory communication among animals. , 1963, Journal of theoretical biology.

[29]  Michael Möglich,et al.  Tandem calling pheromone in the genusLeptothorax (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Behavioral analysis of specificity , 2004, Journal of Chemical Ecology.

[30]  Edward O. Wilson,et al.  Biochemical Polymorphism in Ants , 1965, Science.

[31]  B. Bolton A New General Catalogue of the Ants of the World , 1995 .

[32]  M. Blum,et al.  Fire ant trail pheromones: Analysis of species specificity after gas chromatographic fractionation , 1976 .