Electroantennography Responses of African Meliponine Bee Species (Hymenoptera: meliponini) to Hetero-Specific Trail Pheromones: Glandular Sequestration of Terpenyl Esters

Author:

Bobadoye Bridget O.,Nganso Beatrice T.,Kiatoko N

Abstract

ABSTRACTPreliminary studies of electroantennographic responses of African meliponine bees to trail pheromones were performed using four meliponine species;Hypotrigona gribodoi, Meliponula ferruginea(black),Meliponula ferruginea(reddish brown) andMelipona bocandei. Experiments withMeliponula ferruginea(black) and (reddish brown) revealing antennae responses to pentane extracts containing the nasonov gland and tarsal glands respectively. Because the glandular origin of pheromone marks deposited by African meliponine bee’s species has not yet been investigated, we first confirmed if these species carry out scent marking and recruitment behavior at floral sources. Secondly we tested if either nasonov or tarsal gland secretions elicited trail-following behavior in newly recruited bees by means of chemical and electrophysiological analyses as well as with bio-assays testing both natural extracts and synthetic pheromone compounds from both glands. A significantly higher proportion of foragers from the four species were attracted and recruited additional foragers to floral resources baited with natural extracts from their own tarsal and nasonov glands. The dominant compound from postpharyngeal gland extracts detected by the chemo-receptors on the foragers’ antennae from these four species belongs to the chemical class of terpenoid esters, with (E)-β Farnesene constituting a dominant part of this trail pheromone in all four species. This terpenoid could potentially be a singular olfactory cue with dual functionality for resource partitioning and competition avoidance between con-specific and hetero-specific foragers on floral resources, which commonly occurs when foragers from different colonies are scouting for food sources in overlapping foraging areas.

Publisher

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Reference38 articles.

1. Inhibition of Adhesiveness and Aggregation of Dissociated Cells by Inhibitors of Protein and RNA Synthesis

2. Diversity and nesting behavior of Meliponinae bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in a tropical rain forest;Ecological Monographs,1993

3. Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator is an epithelial cell receptor for clearance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from the lung

4. Analysis of Dufour’s gland volatiles from Africanized and European honey bees and their possible role in intraspecific and interspecific chemical communication;Journal of Chemical Ecology,2000

5. Chemical defense against predation in an insect egg;Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,1975

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3