کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
2841403 1165396 2008 10 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
Egg marking in the facultatively queenless ant Gnamptogenys striatula: The source and mechanism
کلمات کلیدی
موضوعات مرتبط
علوم زیستی و بیوفناوری علوم کشاورزی و بیولوژیک دانش حشره شناسی
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
Egg marking in the facultatively queenless ant Gnamptogenys striatula: The source and mechanism
چکیده انگلیسی

Conflicts over reproductive division of labour are common in social insects. These conflicts are often resolved via antagonistic actions that are mediated by chemical cues. Dominant egg layers and their eggs can be recognized by a specific yet similar cuticular hydrocarbon profile. In the facultatively queenless ant Gnamptogenys striatula, a worker's cuticular hydrocarbon profile signals its fertility and this determines its position in the reproductive division of labour. How eggs acquire the same hydrocarbon profile is as yet unclear. Here, we search for glandular sources of egg hydrocarbons and identify the putative mechanism of egg marking. We found that eggs carry the same hydrocarbons as the cuticle of fertile workers, and that these hydrocarbons also occur in the ovaries and the haemolymph. None of the studied glands (Dufour, venom, labial and mandibular gland) contained these hydrocarbons. Our results indicate that hydrocarbons are deposited on eggs while still in the ovaries. The low hydrocarbon concentration in the ovaries, however, suggests they are produced elsewhere and transported through the haemolymph. We also found that fertile workers regularly deposit new hydrocarbons on eggs by rubbing laid eggs with a hairy structure on the abdominal tip from which a non-polar substance is secreted.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Journal of Insect Physiology - Volume 54, Issue 4, April 2008, Pages 727–736
نویسندگان
, , , , ,