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Ferveur JF, Cortot J, Moussian B, Everaerts C. Population Density Affects Drosophila Male Pheromones in Laboratory-Acclimated and Natural Lines. J Chem Ecol 2024:10.1007/s10886-024-01540-8. [PMID: 39186176 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-024-01540-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2024] [Revised: 07/30/2024] [Accepted: 08/12/2024] [Indexed: 08/27/2024]
Abstract
In large groups of vertebrates and invertebrates, aggregation can affect biological characters such as gene expression, physiological, immunological and behavioral responses. The insect cuticle is covered with hydrocarbons (cuticular hydrocarbons; CHCs) which reduce dehydration and increase protection against xenobiotics. Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans flies also use some of their CHCs as contact pheromones. In these two sibling species, males also produce the volatile pheromone 11-cis-Vaccenyl acetate (cVa). To investigate the effect of insect density on the production of CHCs and cVa we compared the level of these male pheromones in groups of different sizes. These compounds were measured in six lines acclimated for many generations in our laboratory - four wild-type and one CHC mutant D. melanogaster lines plus one D. simulans line. Increasing the group size substantially changed pheromone amounts only in the four D. melanogaster wild-type lines. To evaluate the role of laboratory acclimation in this effect, we measured density-dependent pheromonal production in 21 lines caught in nature after 1, 12 and 25 generations in the laboratory. These lines showed varied effects which rarely persisted across generations. Although increasing group size often affected pheromone production in laboratory-established and freshly-caught D. melanogaster lines, this effect was not linear, suggesting complex determinants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-François Ferveur
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, UMR6265 CNRS, UMR1324 INRA, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 6, Bd Gabriel, Dijon, 21000, France.
| | - Jérôme Cortot
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, UMR6265 CNRS, UMR1324 INRA, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 6, Bd Gabriel, Dijon, 21000, France
| | - Bernard Moussian
- Interfaculty Institute for Cell Biology, Animal Genetics, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 15, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Claude Everaerts
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, UMR6265 CNRS, UMR1324 INRA, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 6, Bd Gabriel, Dijon, 21000, France
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2
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Role of juvenile hormone in oogenesis, chemical profile, and behavior of the wasp Mischocyttarus consimilis (Vespidae: Polistinae). CHEMOECOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00049-022-00378-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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3
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Juvenile hormone regulates reproductive physiology and the production of fertility cues in the swarm-founding wasp Polybia occidentalis. CHEMOECOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00049-022-00376-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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4
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da Silva RC, Prato A, Tannure-Nascimento I, Akemi Oi C, Wenseleers T, Nascimento F. Cuticular hydrocarbons as caste-linked cues in Neotropical swarm-founding wasps. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13571. [PMID: 35694385 PMCID: PMC9186331 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Wasps (Vespidae) are important organisms to understand the evolution of social behaviour. Wasps show different levels of sociality, which includes solitary to highly eusocial organisms. In social insect species, queens and workers differ in physiology and morphology. The Neotropical swarm-founding wasps (Epiponini) show a variety of caste syndromes. In this clade, the caste-flexibility is a unique characteristic, in which workers can become queens and swarm to start a new nest. The investigation of the caste system comparing several Epiponini species show a clear-cut morphological distinction between queens and workers, with a morphological continuum between queens and workers. However, whether cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are used as cues for caste recognition in swarm-founding wasps is still unknown. We studied whether CHCs may display caste-linked differences in eleven species of Epiponini wasps and if CHCs differences would follow morphological patterns. Our results suggest that queens and workers of Epiponini wasps are chemically different from each other at two levels, qualitatively and quantitatively, or merely quantitatively. This variation seems to exist regardless of their morphological traits and may be useful to help us understanding how chemical communication evolved differently in these species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Carvalho da Silva
- Departamento de Biologia/Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Amanda Prato
- Departamento de Biologia/Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ivelize Tannure-Nascimento
- Departamento de Biologia/Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil,Departamento de Morfologia e Fisiologia Animal, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Cintia Akemi Oi
- Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium,Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, University College London, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tom Wenseleers
- Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Fabio Nascimento
- Departamento de Biologia/Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
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5
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Hare RM, Larsdotter-Mellström H, Simmons LW. Sexual dimorphism in cuticular hydrocarbons and their potential use in mating in a bushcricket with dynamic sex roles. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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6
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Ferreira HM, da Silva RC, do Nascimento FS, Wenseleers T, Oi CA. Reproduction and fertility signalling under joint juvenile hormone control in primitively eusocial Mischocyttarus wasps. CHEMOECOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00049-022-00370-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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7
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Oi CA, da Silva RC, Stevens I, Ferreira HM, Nascimento FS, Wenseleers T. Hormonal modulation of reproduction and fertility signaling in polistine wasps. Curr Zool 2021; 67:519-530. [PMID: 34616950 PMCID: PMC8489163 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoab026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
In social insects, it has been suggested that reproduction and the production of particular fertility-linked cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) may be under shared juvenile hormone (JH) control, and this could have been key in predisposing such cues to later evolve into full-fledged queen pheromone signals. However, to date, only few studies have experimentally tested this "hormonal pleiotropy" hypothesis. Here, we formally test this hypothesis using data from four species of Polistine wasps, Polistes dominula, Polistes satan, Mischocyttarus metathoracicus, and Mischocyttarus cassununga, and experimental treatments with JH using the JH analogue methoprene and the anti-JH precocene. In line with reproduction being under JH control, our results show that across these four species, precocene significantly decreased ovary development when compared with both the acetone solvent-only control and the methoprene treatment. Consistent with the hormonal pleiotropy hypothesis, these effects on reproduction were further matched by subtle shifts in the CHC profiles, with univariate analyses showing that in P. dominula and P. satan the abundance of particular linear alkanes and mono-methylated alkanes were affected by ovary development and our hormonal treatments. The results indicate that in primitively eusocial wasps, and particularly in Polistes, reproduction and the production of some CHC cues are under joint JH control. We suggest that pleiotropic links between reproduction and the production of such hydrocarbon cues have been key enablers for the origin of true fertility and queen signals in more derived, advanced eusocial insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cintia Akemi Oi
- Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Rafael Carvalho da Silva
- Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de São Paulo-USP, Ribeirão Preto, SP 14040-901, Brazil
| | - Ian Stevens
- Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | | | - Fabio Santos Nascimento
- Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de São Paulo-USP, Ribeirão Preto, SP 14040-901, Brazil
| | - Tom Wenseleers
- Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
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8
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Legan AW, Jernigan CM, Miller SE, Fuchs MF, Sheehan MJ. Expansion and Accelerated Evolution of 9-Exon Odorant Receptors in Polistes Paper Wasps. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:3832-3846. [PMID: 34151983 PMCID: PMC8383895 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Independent origins of sociality in bees and ants are associated with independent expansions of particular odorant receptor (OR) gene subfamilies. In ants, one clade within the OR gene family, the 9-exon subfamily, has dramatically expanded. These receptors detect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), key social signaling molecules in insects. It is unclear to what extent 9-exon OR subfamily expansion is associated with the independent evolution of sociality across Hymenoptera, warranting studies of taxa with independently derived social behavior. Here, we describe OR gene family evolution in the northern paper wasp, Polistes fuscatus, and compare it to four additional paper wasp species spanning ∼40 million years of evolutionary divergence. We find 200 putatively functional OR genes in P. fuscatus, matching predictions from neuroanatomy, and more than half of these are in the 9-exon subfamily. Most OR gene expansions are tandemly arrayed at orthologous loci in Polistes genomes, and microsynteny analysis shows species-specific gain and loss of 9-exon ORs within tandem arrays. There is evidence of episodic positive diversifying selection shaping ORs in expanded subfamilies. Values of omega (dN/dS) are higher among 9-exon ORs compared to other OR subfamilies. Within the Polistes OR gene tree, branches in the 9-exon OR clade experience relaxed negative (relaxed purifying) selection relative to other branches in the tree. Patterns of OR evolution within Polistes are consistent with 9-exon OR function in CHC perception by combinatorial coding, with both natural selection and neutral drift contributing to interspecies differences in gene copy number and sequence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew W Legan
- Laboratory for Animal Social Evolution and Recognition, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Christopher M Jernigan
- Laboratory for Animal Social Evolution and Recognition, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Sara E Miller
- Laboratory for Animal Social Evolution and Recognition, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Matthieu F Fuchs
- Laboratory for Animal Social Evolution and Recognition, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Michael J Sheehan
- Laboratory for Animal Social Evolution and Recognition, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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9
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Reproductive inhibition among nestmate queens in the invasive Argentine ant. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20484. [PMID: 33235272 PMCID: PMC7687882 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77574-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2020] [Accepted: 11/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
In social species, the presence of several reproductive individuals can generate conflict. In social insects, as queen number increases, individual oviposition rate may decrease because of direct and indirect behavioural and/or chemical interactions. Understanding the factors that mediate differences in queen fecundity should provide insight into the regulation and maintenance of highly polygynous insect societies, such as those of the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). In this study, we investigated (1) whether differences in the oviposition rates of Argentine ant queens exposed to polygynous conditions could result from interactions among them; (2) whether such differences in fecundity stemmed from differences in worker attention; and (3) whether polygynous conditions affected the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of queens (CHCs). We found that differences in queen fecundity and CHC profiles observed under polygynous conditions disappeared when queens were exposed to monogynous conditions, suggesting some form of reproductive inhibition may exist when queens cohabit. These differences did not seem to arise from variation in worker attention because more fecund queens were not more attractive to workers. Levels of some CHCs were higher in more fecund queens. These CHCs are associated with greater queen productivity and survival. Our findings indicate that such compounds could be multifunctional queen pheromones.
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Tsuchida K, Saigo T, Asai K, Okamoto T, Ando M, Ando T, Sasaki K, Yokoi K, Watanabe D, Sugime Y, Miura T. Reproductive workers insufficiently signal their reproductive ability in a paper wasp. Behav Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arz212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Why workers forfeit direct reproduction is a crucial question in eusocial evolution. Worker reproduction provides an excellent opportunity to understand the mechanism of kin conflict resolution between the queen and workers. We evaluated behavioral and physiological differences among females in the paper wasp Polistes chinensis antennalis to examine why some workers reproduce under queenright conditions. Reproductive workers were old and foraged less early in the season; their cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles overlapped with those of queens but were significantly different. The distinct CHC profile of the eggs of the queen likely represented a cue for policing against those by workers. Juvenile hormone (JH) and dopamine seemed to be associated with gonadotropic function, and the JH level of reproductive workers was similar to that of the queen. The high JH level of reproductive workers likely facilitated their reproduction even under queenright conditions. Gene expression levels of the queen and reproductive workers differed only in vitellogenin. These results suggest that worker reproduction is facilitated by an increase in JH level; however, CHC is not a fertility-linked signal, but a queen-linked signal; consequently, reproductive workers without a queen-linked signal might be allowed to stay within the colony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koji Tsuchida
- Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
| | - Takaharu Saigo
- Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
| | - Kazuyuki Asai
- Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
| | - Tomoko Okamoto
- Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
| | - Masaki Ando
- Laboratory of Forest Wildlife Management, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
| | - Tetsu Ando
- Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering (BASE), Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ken Sasaki
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Honeybee Science Research Center, Tamagawa University, Machida, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kakeru Yokoi
- Insect Genome Research Unit, Division of Applied Genetics, The National Agriculture and Research Organization, Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Dai Watanabe
- Laboratory of Ecological Genetics, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Yasuhiro Sugime
- Laboratory of Ecological Genetics, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Toru Miura
- Laboratory of Ecological Genetics, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
- Misaki Marine Biological Station, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Japan
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11
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Oi CA, Oliveira RC, van Zweden JS, Mateus S, Millar JG, Nascimento FS, Wenseleers T. Do Primitively Eusocial Wasps Use Queen Pheromones to Regulate Reproduction? A Case Study of the Paper Wasp Polistes satan. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
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12
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Control of Drosophila Growth and Survival by the Lipid Droplet-Associated Protein CG9186/Sturkopf. Cell Rep 2019; 26:3726-3740.e7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.02.110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2017] [Revised: 05/08/2018] [Accepted: 02/27/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
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13
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Abril S, Diaz M, Lenoir A, Ivon Paris C, Boulay R, Gómez C. Cuticular hydrocarbons correlate with queen reproductive status in native and invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile, Mayr). PLoS One 2018; 13:e0193115. [PMID: 29470506 PMCID: PMC5823440 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2017] [Accepted: 02/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In insect societies, chemical communication plays an important role in colony reproduction and individual social status. Many studies have indicated that cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are the main chemical compounds encoding reproductive status. However, these studies have largely focused on queenless or monogynous species whose workers are capable of egg laying and have mainly explored the mechanisms underlying queen-worker or worker-worker reproductive conflicts. Less is known about what occurs in highly polygynous ant species with permanently sterile workers. Here, we used the Argentine ant as a model to examine the role of CHCs in communicating reproductive information in such insect societies. The Argentine ant is unicolonial, highly polygynous, and polydomous. We identified several CHCs whose presence and levels were correlated with queen age, reproductive status, and fertility. Our results also provide new insights into queen executions in the Argentine ant, a distinctive feature displayed by this species in its introduced range. Each spring, just before new sexuals appear, workers eliminate up to 90% of the mated queens in their colonies. We discovered that queens that survived execution had different CHC profiles from queens present before and during execution. More specifically, levels of some CHCs were higher in the survivors, suggesting that workers could eliminate queens based on their chemical profiles. In addition, queen CHC profiles differed based on season and species range (native vs. introduced). Overall, the results of this study provide new evidence that CHCs serve as queen signals and do more than just regulate worker reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sílvia Abril
- Departament de Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Mireia Diaz
- Departament de Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
| | - Alain Lenoir
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l’Insecte, Université François Rabelais de Tours, Tours, France
| | - Carolina Ivon Paris
- Departamento Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Raphaël Boulay
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l’Insecte, Université François Rabelais de Tours, Tours, France
| | - Crisanto Gómez
- Departament de Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
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14
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Kelstrup HC, Hartfelder K, Esterhuizen N, Wossler TC. Juvenile hormone titers, ovarian status and epicuticular hydrocarbons in gynes and workers of the paper wasp Belonogaster longitarsus. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2017; 98:83-92. [PMID: 27913150 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2016.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2016] [Revised: 11/21/2016] [Accepted: 11/22/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The prevailing paradigm for social wasp endocrinology is that of juvenile hormone (JH) functioning pleiotropically in potential and actual queens, where it fuels dominance behaviors, stimulates ovarian growth and/or affects the production of status-linked cuticular compounds. In colonies with annual cycles (e.g., temperate-zone species), female adults produced at the end of the summer (called gynes) are physiologically primed to hibernate. Despite the absence of egg-laying in the pre-overwintering phase, gynes engage in dominance interactions that may affect reproductive potential following hibernation. JH levels have long been inferred to be low in gynes but this has never been tested. In what is the first study to measure JH in gyne-containing colonies of a temperate paper wasp, and the first to incorporate hormone assays in Belonogaster, our results show that the JH titer positively correlates with gyne-specific traits (including oocyte length and a low frequency of foraging trips) in B. longitarsus, a South African paper wasp. Measures of dominance correlated with oocyte length, but not all dominant females possessed activated ovaries. The cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of gynes and workers were distinct, with oocyte length and JH titer showing a positive association with longer-chain methyl-branched alkanes. Nonetheless, evidence for a role of JH in dominance was inconclusive. Finally, the range of JH titers among gynes, and the positive association of JH titers with ovarian status and prospective fertility signals, makes it unlikely that the gyne phenotype is maintained by low JH levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans C Kelstrup
- Stellenbosch University, Department of Botany and Zoology, Private Bag XI, Mateiland, WC, South Africa.
| | - Klaus Hartfelder
- Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes 3900, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Nanike Esterhuizen
- Stellenbosch University, Department of Botany and Zoology, Private Bag XI, Mateiland, WC, South Africa
| | - Theresa C Wossler
- Stellenbosch University, Department of Botany and Zoology, Private Bag XI, Mateiland, WC, South Africa
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15
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Leonhardt SD, Menzel F, Nehring V, Schmitt T. Ecology and Evolution of Communication in Social Insects. Cell 2016; 164:1277-1287. [PMID: 26967293 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.01.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 186] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2015] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Insect life strategies comprise all levels of sociality from solitary to eusocial, in which individuals form persistent groups and divide labor. With increasing social complexity, the need to communicate a greater diversity of messages arose to coordinate division of labor, group cohesion, and concerted actions. Here we summarize the knowledge on prominent messages in social insects that inform about reproduction, group membership, resource locations, and threats and discuss potential evolutionary trajectories of each message in the context of social complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Diana Leonhardt
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Florian Menzel
- Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Zoology, University of Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Volker Nehring
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Animal Ecology, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Schmitt
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
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16
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Polistes smithii vs. Polistes dominula: the contrasting endocrinology and epicuticular signaling of sympatric paper wasps in the field. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-2015-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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17
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Oi CA, van Zweden JS, Oliveira RC, Van Oystaeyen A, Nascimento FS, Wenseleers T. The origin and evolution of social insect queen pheromones: Novel hypotheses and outstanding problems. Bioessays 2015; 37:808-21. [PMID: 25916998 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201400180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Queen pheromones, which signal the presence of a fertile queen and induce daughter workers to remain sterile, are considered to play a key role in regulating the reproductive division of labor of insect societies. Although queen pheromones were long thought to be highly taxon-specific, recent studies have shown that structurally related long-chain hydrocarbons act as conserved queen signals across several independently evolved lineages of social insects. These results imply that social insect queen pheromones are very ancient and likely derived from an ancestral signalling system that was already present in their common solitary ancestors. Based on these new insights, we here review the literature and speculate on what signal precursors social insect queen pheromones may have evolved from. Furthermore, we provide compelling evidence that these pheromones should best be seen as honest signals of fertility as opposed to suppressive agents that chemically sterilize the workers against their own best interests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cintia A Oi
- Department of Biology, Laboratory of Socioecology & Social Evolution, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jelle S van Zweden
- Department of Biology, Laboratory of Socioecology & Social Evolution, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Ricardo C Oliveira
- Department of Biology, Laboratory of Socioecology & Social Evolution, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Annette Van Oystaeyen
- Department of Biology, Laboratory of Socioecology & Social Evolution, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Fabio S Nascimento
- Departamento de Biologia da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Tom Wenseleers
- Department of Biology, Laboratory of Socioecology & Social Evolution, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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18
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González-Forero M. AN EVOLUTIONARY RESOLUTION OF MANIPULATION CONFLICT. Evolution 2014; 68:2038-51. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.12420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2013] [Accepted: 04/04/2014] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mauricio González-Forero
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of Tennessee; Knoxville Tennessee 37996-1610
- National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS); Knoxville Tennessee 37996-3410
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19
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Leadbeater E, Dapporto L, Turillazzi S, Field J. Available kin recognition cues may explain why wasp behavior reflects relatedness to nest mates. Behav Ecol 2013. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/art113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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20
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van Zweden JS, Bonckaert W, Wenseleers T, d'Ettorre P. QUEEN SIGNALING IN SOCIAL WASPS. Evolution 2013; 68:976-86. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.12314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2013] [Accepted: 10/10/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jelle S. van Zweden
- Centre for Social Evolution; University of Copenhagen; Universitetsparken 15 2100 Copenhagen Denmark
- Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution; KU Leuven; Naamsestraat 59, box 2466 3000 Leuven Belgium
| | - Wim Bonckaert
- Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution; KU Leuven; Naamsestraat 59, box 2466 3000 Leuven Belgium
| | - Tom Wenseleers
- Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution; KU Leuven; Naamsestraat 59, box 2466 3000 Leuven Belgium
| | - Patrizia d'Ettorre
- Centre for Social Evolution; University of Copenhagen; Universitetsparken 15 2100 Copenhagen Denmark
- Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée; Université Paris 13 99 avenue Jean-Baptiste Clément, 93430 Villetaneuse France
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21
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Males do not like the working class: male sexual preference and recognition of functional castes in a primitively eusocial wasp. Anim Behav 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.07.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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22
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23
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Tibbetts EA, Izzo A, Huang ZY. Behavioral and physiological factors associated with juvenile hormone in Polistes wasp foundresses. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-010-1126-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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24
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Timing matters when assessing dominance and chemical signatures in the paper wasp Polistes dominulus. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-010-0984-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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25
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Toth AL, Varala K, Henshaw MT, Rodriguez-Zas SL, Hudson ME, Robinson GE. Brain transcriptomic analysis in paper wasps identifies genes associated with behaviour across social insect lineages. Proc Biol Sci 2010; 277:2139-48. [PMID: 20236980 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.0090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Comparative sociogenomics has the potential to provide important insights into how social behaviour evolved. We examined brain gene expression profiles of the primitively eusocial wasp Polistes metricus and compared the results with a growing base of brain gene expression information for the advanced eusocial honeybee, Apis mellifera. We studied four female wasp groups that show variation in foraging/provisioning behaviour and reproductive status, using our newly developed microarray representing approximately 3248 P. metricus genes based on sequences generated from high-throughput pyrosequencing. We found differences in the expression of approximately 389 genes across the four groups. Pathways known from Drosophila melanogaster to be related to lipid metabolism, heat and stress response, and various forms of solitary behaviour were associated with behavioural differences among wasps. Forty-five per cent of differentially expressed transcripts showed significant associations with foraging/provisioning status, and 14 per cent with reproductive status. By comparing these two gene lists with lists of genes previously shown to be differentially expressed in association with honeybee division of labour, we found a significant overlap of genes associated with foraging/provisioning, but not reproduction, across the two species. These results suggest common molecular roots for foraging division of labour in two independently evolved social insect species and the possibility of more lineage-specific roots of reproductive behaviour. We explore the implications of these findings for the idea that there is a conserved 'genetic toolkit' for division of labour across multiple lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy L Toth
- Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA.
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26
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Dapporto L, Bruschini C, Cervo R, Petrocelli I, Turillazzi S. Hydrocarbon rank signatures correlate with differential oophagy and dominance behaviour in Polistes dominulus foundresses. J Exp Biol 2010; 213:453-8. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.032938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARY
Social life offers animals increased fitness opportunities. However, the advantages are not evenly distributed and some individuals benefit more than others. The ultimate advantage of reaching the highest rank in a dominance hierarchy is the achievement of reproduction monopoly. In social insects, dominant individuals and queens keep their reproductive control through differential oophagy of unwanted eggs (egg policing). Egg recognition is the main proximate mechanism for maintaining reproductive dominance. In the social wasp Polistes dominulus, subordinate queens often lay eggs in the presence of the dominant individual. Combining gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis and laboratory bioassays, we found that chemical differences between eggs of subordinate and dominant foundresses can explain the differential success in oophagy enjoyed by dominant individuals. We propose that dominance behaviour is an investigative behaviour as well as a ritualized agonistic behaviour. In fact, the frequency of dominance acts increases with the chemical similarity of the surfaces of dominant- and subordinate-laid eggs. Therefore, dominant individuals probably perform dominance behaviour to test the cuticular signatures of subordinates and so better assess the chemical profiles of subordinate eggs. Finally, we provide evidence that in particular social contexts, subordinate Polistes foundresses can develop ovaries as large as those of dominant individuals but nevertheless lay very few eggs. The subordinates probably lay a limited number of eggs to avoid unnecessary energy loss, as a result of efficient queen policing, but will start laying eggs as soon as the queen fails.
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Affiliation(s)
- L. Dapporto
- Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica, Università di Firenze, Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italy
- Centro Interdipartimentale di Spettrometria di Massa, Università di Firenze, Viale G. Pieraccini 6, 50100, Firenze, Italy
| | - C. Bruschini
- Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica, Università di Firenze, Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italy
- Centro Interdipartimentale di Spettrometria di Massa, Università di Firenze, Viale G. Pieraccini 6, 50100, Firenze, Italy
| | - R. Cervo
- Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica, Università di Firenze, Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italy
| | - I. Petrocelli
- Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica, Università di Firenze, Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italy
| | - S. Turillazzi
- Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica, Università di Firenze, Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italy
- Centro Interdipartimentale di Spettrometria di Massa, Università di Firenze, Viale G. Pieraccini 6, 50100, Firenze, Italy
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27
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Izzo A, Wells M, Huang Z, Tibbetts E. Cuticular hydrocarbons correlate with fertility, not dominance, in a paper wasp, Polistes dominulus. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-010-0902-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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28
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Haberer W, Steiger S, Müller JK. (E)-Methylgeranate, a chemical signal of juvenile hormone titre and its role in the partner recognition system of burying beetles. Anim Behav 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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29
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30
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Hanus R, Vrkoslav V, Hrdý I, Cvacka J, Sobotník J. Beyond cuticular hydrocarbons: evidence of proteinaceous secretion specific to termite kings and queens. Proc Biol Sci 2009; 277:995-1002. [PMID: 19939837 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In 1959, P. Karlson and M. Lüscher introduced the term 'pheromone', broadly used nowadays for various chemicals involved in intraspecific communication. To demonstrate the term, they depicted the situation in termite societies, where king and queen inhibit the reproduction of nest-mates by an unknown chemical substance. Paradoxically, half a century later, neither the source nor the chemical identity of this 'royal' pheromone is known. In this study, we report for the first time the secretion of polar compounds of proteinaceous origin by functional reproductives in three termite species, Prorhinotermes simplex, Reticulitermes santonensis and Kalotermes flavicollis. Aqueous washes of functional reproductives contained sex-specific proteinaceous compounds, virtually absent in non-reproducing stages. Moreover, the presence of these compounds was clearly correlated with the age of reproductives and their reproductive status. We discuss the putative function of these substances in termite caste recognition and regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Hanus
- Infochemicals Research Team, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Flemingovo no. 2, Prague, Czech Republic
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31
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Ichinose K, Lenoir A. Ontogeny of hydrocarbon profiles in the ant Aphaenogaster senilis and effects of social isolation. C R Biol 2009; 332:697-703. [DOI: 10.1016/j.crvi.2009.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2008] [Revised: 03/12/2009] [Accepted: 04/02/2009] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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32
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Tannure-Nascimento IC, Nascimento FS, Zucchi R. The look of royalty: visual and odour signals of reproductive status in a paper wasp. Proc Biol Sci 2008; 275:2555-61. [PMID: 18682372 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Reproductive conflicts within animal societies occur when all females can potentially reproduce. In social insects, these conflicts are regulated largely by behaviour and chemical signalling. There is evidence that presence of signals, which provide direct information about the quality of the reproductive females would increase the fitness of all parties. In this study, we present an association between visual and chemical signals in the paper wasp Polistes satan. Our results showed that in nest-founding phase colonies, variation of visual signals is linked to relative fertility, while chemical signals are related to dominance status. In addition, experiments revealed that higher hierarchical positions were occupied by subordinates with distinct proportions of cuticular hydrocarbons and distinct visual marks. Therefore, these wasps present cues that convey reliable information of their reproductive status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivelize C Tannure-Nascimento
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo 14040-901, Brazil
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33
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Scent of a queen-cuticular hydrocarbons specific for female reproductives in lower termites. Naturwissenschaften 2008; 96:315-9. [PMID: 19034403 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-008-0475-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2008] [Revised: 10/06/2008] [Accepted: 11/06/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
In social insects, it is assumed that signals of the queen inform nestmates about her reproductive status. Thus, workers forego their own reproduction if the queen signals high fertility. In hemimetabolous termites, little is known about reproductive inhibition, but evidence exists for a royal-pair control. Workers of lower termites exhibit a high developmental flexibility and are potentially able to become reproductives, but the presence of a fertile reproductive restrains them from reaching sexual maturity. The nature of this control, however, remains unknown. Here, we report on qualitative differences in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles between queens and workers of the basal drywood termite Cryptotermes secundus. Queens were characterized by a shift to long-chained and branched hydrocarbons. Most remarkably, similar chemical patterns are regarded as fertility cues of reproductives in social Hymenoptera. This might suggest that both groups of social insects convergently evolved similar chemical signatures. The present study provides deeper insights into how termites might have socially exploited these signatures from sexual communication in their cockroach-like ancestor.
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34
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ZANETTE LORENZORS, FIELD JEREMY. Genetic relatedness in early associations ofPolistes dominulus: from related to unrelated helpers. Mol Ecol 2008; 17:2590-7. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2008.03785.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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35
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Beekman M, Oldroyd BP. When workers disunite: intraspecific parasitism by eusocial bees. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY 2008; 53:19-37. [PMID: 17600462 DOI: 10.1146/annurev.ento.53.103106.093515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
One of the most obvious characteristics of an insect society is reproductive cooperation. Yet insect colonies are vulnerable to reproductive parasitism, both by workers from their own colony and by workers from others. Little is known about the mechanisms insect societies have evolved to protect themselves from being exploited from within and outside the colony and the mechanisms that social parasites have evolved to circumvent these mechanisms. Here we showcase recently discovered cases of intraspecific parasitism by workers in eusocial bees. These discoveries overturn the widespread view that insect colonies are like fortresses populated by female eunuchs, and yield important insights into the mechanisms that normally enforce functional worker sterility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Beekman
- Behavior and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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36
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Correlated changes in breeding status and polyunsaturated cuticular hydrocarbons: the chemical basis of nestmate recognition in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2007. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-007-0532-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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37
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Steiger S, Peschke K, Francke W, Müller JK. The smell of parents: breeding status influences cuticular hydrocarbon pattern in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. Proc Biol Sci 2007; 274:2211-20. [PMID: 17609182 PMCID: PMC2706201 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The waxy layer of the cuticle has been shown to play a fundamental role in recognition systems of insects. The biparental burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides is known to have the ability to discriminate between breeding and non-breeding conspecifics and also here cuticular substances could function as recognition cue. However, it has not yet been demonstrated that the pattern of cuticular lipids can reflect the breeding status of a beetle or of any other insect. With chemical analysis using coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we showed that the chemical signature of N. vespilloides males and females is highly complex and changes its feature with breeding status. Parental beetles were characterized by a higher amount of some unusual unsaturated hydrocarbons than beetles which are not caring for larvae. The striking correlation between cuticular profiles and breeding status suggests that cuticular hydrocarbons inform the beetles about parental state and thus enable them to discriminate between their breeding partner and a conspecific intruder. Furthermore, we found evidence that nutritional conditions also influence the cuticular profile and discuss the possibility that the diet provides the precursors for the unsaturated hydrocarbons observed in parental beetles. Our study underlines the fact that the cuticular pattern is rich of information and plays a central role in the burying beetles' communication systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Steiger
- Institute of Zoology, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Freiburg, Hauptstrasse 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
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38
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Reproductive plasticity in bumblebee workers (Bombus terrestris)—reversion from fertility to sterility under queen influence. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2007. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-007-0455-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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39
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Bruschini C, Cervo R, Dani FR, Turillazzi S. Can venom volatiles be a taxonomic tool for Polistes wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)? J ZOOL SYST EVOL RES 2007. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0469.2006.00403.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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40
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Dapporto L, Santini A, Dani FR, Turillazzi S. Workers of a Polistes Paper Wasp Detect the Presence of Their Queen by Chemical Cues. Chem Senses 2007; 32:795-802. [PMID: 17644826 DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjm047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Differences in long-chain hydrocarbon mixtures among reproductive and nonreproductive individuals have been often revealed in social insects. However, very few papers demonstrated that these signatures actually act as contact pheromones used by nonreproductive to recognize the presence of a related queen in the colony. Cuticular and glandular hydrocarbons of Polistes paper wasps have been extensively studied, but, until now, the perception and recognition of such cues was not demonstrated. In this paper, we show, for the first time in Vespidae, that Polistes gallicus workers distinguish nestmates from alien individuals and queens from workers by the hydrocarbon mixtures of the Van der Vecht organ secretion (VVS). We also demonstrated that stroking behavior (a peculiar behavior of Polistes by which queens probably lay VVS on the nest) acts as an inhibitor of ovarian development in workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Dapporto
- Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica Leo Pardi, Università di Firenze, via Romana 17, 50125 Firenze, Italy.
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41
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Bhadra A, Iyer PL, Sumana A, Deshpande SA, Ghosh S, Gadagkar R. How do workers of the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata detect the presence of their queens? J Theor Biol 2007; 246:574-82. [PMID: 17307201 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2006] [Revised: 01/08/2007] [Accepted: 01/08/2007] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Queens in primitively eusocial insect societies are morphologically indistinguishable from their workers, and occupy the highest position in the dominance hierarchy. Such queens are believed to use aggression to maintain worker activity and reproductive monopoly in the colony. However, in the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata, the queen is a strikingly docile individual, who interacts rarely with her workers. If the queen is experimentally removed, one of the workers becomes extremely aggressive within minutes, and eventually becomes the new queen of the colony. We designate her as the potential queen. Experimental evidence suggests that the queen probably uses a non-volatile pheromone to signal her presence to her workers. Here we attempt to identify the mechanism by which the queen transmits information about her presence to the workers. We designate the time taken for the potential queen to realize the absence of the queen as the realization time and model the realization time as a function of the decay time of the queen's signal and the average signal age. We find that the realization time obtained from the model, considering only direct interactions (193.5 min) is too large compared to the experimentally observed value of 30 min. Hence we consider the possibility of signal transfer through relay. Using the Dijkstra's algorithm, we first establish the effectiveness of relay in such a system and then use experimental data to fit the model. We find that the realization time obtained from the model, considering relay (237.1 min) is also too large compared to the experimentally observed value of 30 min. We thus conclude that physical interactions, both direct and indirect (relay), are not sufficient to transfer the queen's signal in R. marginata. Finally, we discuss the possibility that the queen applies her pheromone on the nest material from where the workers can perceive it without having to physically interact with the queen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anindita Bhadra
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
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42
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Spiewok S, Schmolz E, Ruther J. Mating System of the European Hornet Vespa crabro: Male Seeking Strategies and Evidence for the Involvement of a Sex Pheromone. J Chem Ecol 2006; 32:2777-88. [PMID: 17089183 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-006-9162-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
We describe details of the mate finding strategy of drones of the European hornet, Vespa crabro, and present evidence for the involvement of sex pheromones. Tests were carried out with free flying drones in natural habitats. Males patrolled the nest site itself, as well as nearby nonresource-based sites, without showing territorial behavior. Patrolling was restricted to sunny spots in the vegetation, and thus, the locations changed throughout the day. Drones were attracted to both caged gynes and to dead workers treated with gyne extracts, indicating the presence of a female-produced sex attractant. Treated workers also elicited copulation attempts by the attracted drones. Extracts from gynes, workers, and drones contained exclusively cuticular lipids, and the profile from gynes was much more diverse than that of workers and drones. The most striking differences observed related to the alkenes, monomethyl- and dimethylalkanes. The results provide a lead for potential attracting and copulation-releasing semiochemicals in V. crabro.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Spiewok
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
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43
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Beekman M. Is Her Majesty at home? Trends Ecol Evol 2006; 19:505-6. [PMID: 16701314 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2004.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2004] [Revised: 06/28/2004] [Accepted: 07/15/2004] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
When Queen Elizabeth is at home in Buckingham Palace, tradition has it that the Royal Standard is raised, so that all may know the fact. Although it is not crucial for most of us to know whether Her Majesty is home, it is in social insects. Endler et al. have recently shown how an ant queen signals her presence to her remote workers: she marks her eggs. This is significant because it provides insight into how queens maintain reproductive monopoly within their colonies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Beekman
- School of Biological Sciences, A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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44
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Liebig J, Monnin T, Turillazzi S. Direct assessment of queen quality and lack of worker suppression in a paper wasp. Proc Biol Sci 2005; 272:1339-44. [PMID: 16006333 PMCID: PMC1560329 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2005.3073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Assessing a conspecific's potential is often crucial to increase one's fitness, e.g. in female choice, contests with rivals or reproductive conflicts in animal societies. In the latter, helpers benefit from accurately assessing the fertility of the breeder as an indication of inclusive fitness. There is evidence that this can be achieved using chemical correlates of reproductive activity. Here, we show that queen quality can be assessed by directly monitoring her reproductive output. In the paper wasp Polistes dominulus, we mimicked a decrease in queen fertility by regularly removing brood. This triggered ovarian development and egg-laying by many workers, which strongly suggests that brood abundance is a reliable cue of queen quality. Brood abundance can be monitored when workers perform regular brood care in small size societies where each brood element is kept in a separate cell. Our results also show that although the queen was not manipulated, and thus remained healthy and fully fertile, she did not control worker egg-laying. Nevertheless, when workers laid eggs, the queen secured a near reproductive monopoly by selectively destroying these eggs, a mechanism known as 'queen policing'. By contrast, workers destroyed comparatively few queen-laid eggs, but did destroy each other's eggs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jürgen Liebig
- LS Verhaltensphysiologie und Soziobiologie, Biozentrum, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
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45
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Dapporto L, Matthew Sledge F, Turillazzi S. Dynamics of cuticular chemical profiles of Polistes dominulus workers in orphaned nests (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2005; 51:969-73. [PMID: 15941571 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2005.04.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2004] [Revised: 04/18/2005] [Accepted: 04/19/2005] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
We analysed changes in cuticular hydrocarbon signatures of workers in orphaned colonies of the paper wasp Polistes dominulus. In natural conditions, workers and foundresses possess characteristic cuticular signatures, and foundresses are further distinguishable, both behaviourally and chemically, on the basis of their rank in a reproductive dominance hierarchy. In our study, several workers were found to develop their ovaries and produce cuticular signatures resembling those of dominant foundresses, while remaining workers possessed undeveloped ovaries and had cuticular blends characteristic of subordinate foundresses. Workers that did not develop their ovaries had changed epicuticular signatures, demonstrating that the mixture of hydrocarbons of worker individuals is strongly dependent on social role and environment. Our results suggest that the composition of epicuticular lipids is not determined at the pre-imaginal stage, and that physiological pathways leading to cuticular chemical changes are similar in foundresses and workers of P. dominulus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Dapporto
- Centro Interdipartimentale Museo di Storia Naturale e del Territorio dell'Università di Pisa, Via Roma 79, 56011, Calci (PI), Italy.
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46
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Dietemann V, Liebig J, Hölldobler B, Peeters C. Changes in the cuticular hydrocarbons of incipient reproductives correlate with triggering of worker policing in the bulldog ant Myrmecia gulosa. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2005. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-005-0939-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Beekman M, Martin CG, Oldroyd BP. Similar policing rates of eggs laid by virgin and mated honey-bee queens. THE SCIENCE OF NATURE - NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 2004; 91:598-601. [PMID: 15502902 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-004-0576-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2004] [Accepted: 08/30/2004] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Worker-policing is a well-documented mechanism that maintains functional worker sterility in queen-right honey-bee colonies. Unknown, however, is the source of the egg-marking signal that is thought to be produced by the queen and used by policing workers to discriminate between queen- and worker-laid eggs. Here we investigate whether mating is necessary for the queen to produce the egg-marking signal. We compare the removal rate of eggs laid by virgin queens and compare this rate with that of eggs laid by mated queens. Our results show that mating does not affect the acceptability of eggs, suggesting that physiological changes linked to the act of mating do not play a role in the production of the queen's egg-marking signal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Beekman
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, A12, 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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Lorenzi MC, Cervo R, Zacchi F, Turillazzi S, Bagnères AG. Dynamics of chemical mimicry in the social parasite wasp Polistes semenowi (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Parasitology 2004; 129:643-51. [PMID: 15552409 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182004005992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Chemical cues are so important in the recognition mechanism of social insects that most social parasites (which rely on hosts to rear their brood) have been documented as overcoming the mechanism by which colony residents recognize non-nestmates, by mimicking the odour of the usurped colony. We simulated in the laboratory the process by which the obligate social parasite, Polistes semenowi, invades nests of the host species, Polistes dominulus, in the field and analysed the epicuticular lipid layer before and after host nest usurpation. The experiment documents that P. semenowi social parasites have an epicuticular hydrocarbon pattern which is very similar to that of their host but, after entering host colonies, parasites mimic the odour of the colonies they invade, to the point that they perfectly match the hydrocarbon profile peculiar to the colony they entered. However, both before and after host nest invasion, parasites show a tendency to possess diluted recognition cues with respect to their hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- M C Lorenzi
- Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell'Uomo, Università di Torino, via Accademia Albertina 17, 10123 Torino, Italy.
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