Trail pheromone of the ant Tetramorium meridionale (original) (raw)
Related papers
Identification of trail pheromone of the ant Tetramorium caespitum L. (Hymenoptera: Myrmicinae
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 1984
The trail pheromone of the antTetramorium caespitum L. is a 70∶30 mixture of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine and 3-ethyl-2, 5-dimethylpyrazine. The average total amount of the two pyrazines present in the poison vesicle was found to be 3.9 ng per ant, of which 2.7 ± 0.4 ng is 2,5-dimethylpyrazine and 1.15 ±0.25 ng is 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine. The pyrazines constitute only 0.03% of the volume of the poison vesicle but account for the whole of the trail-following activity. A 70∶30 mixture of the respective pyrazines evoked the highest activity in artificial trail-following tests.
Trail Pheromone of Myrmicine Ant Pristomyrmex pungens
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 2000
The myrmicine ant Pristomyrmex pungens marks recruitment trails with poison gland secretions. The effective trail pheromone compound is 6-n-pentyl-2-pyrone. Poison gland components were identified by means of gas chromatographic coupled mass spectrometry. The biological activity was examined in trail-following experiments as well as in gas chromatographic coupled electroantennograms. In addition to 6-n-pentyl-2-pyrone, a number of monoterpenes were found in the poison gland secretion, i.e., a-pinene, camphene, 0-pinene, myrcene, a-phellandrene, a-terpinene, and limonene. The terpenoid compounds increased the trail-following response only slightly when offered together with 6-n-pentyl-2-pyrone. In contrast to the latter component, synthetic monoterpenes elicited no orientation behavior in trail-following bioassays.
Physiological Entomology, 1986
The poison gland of Munica rubidu contains nanogram quantities of four alkylpyrazines, methylpyrazine, 2,5dimethylpyrazine, trimethylpyrazine and 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine, of which only the last induces pronounced trail-following behaviour. Myrmicu rubru and M. rubidu workers follow each other's trails equally well when allowance is made for the much greater size of M.rubidu workers. The cross activity in trail-following between M. rubidu, M. rubru and Tetrumorium cuespitum is understandable in terms of the amounts and proportions of the different pyrazines present in their glands and their responses to the synthetic substances and appropriate mixtures of them.
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 2007
Several North American species of Pogonomyrmex harvester ants exhibit group foraging, whereas South American species are exclusively solitary foragers. The composition of the secretions of the poison and Dufour glands in the South American species, Pogonomyrmex vermiculatus, were analyzed, and the secretions and their components were tested as trail pheromones in laboratory bioassays. The major compounds in the poison gland were the alkylpyrazines, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, and 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine. The Dufour gland contained five alkanes, from tridecane to heptadecane, with pentadecane being most abundant. In behavioral bioassays, poison gland extracts and the mixture of pyrazines produced a trail pheromone effect, whereas the Dufour gland extracts and the alkanes had no effect on ant locomotion. We conclude that group foraging in P. vermiculatus does not arise from the inability to produce or detect possible pheromones, but rather, from physiological and/or ecological factors.
A list of and some comments about the trail pheromones of ants
Natural product communications, 2014
Ants use many different chemical compounds to communicate with their nestmates. Foraging success depends on how efficiently ants communicate the presence of food and thus recruit workers to exploit the food resource. Trail pheromones, produced by different exocrine glands, are a key part of ant foraging strategies. By combing through the literature, we compiled a list of the identity and glandular origin of the chemical compounds found in the trail pheromones of 75 different ant species. Of the 168 compounds identified, more than 40% are amines. In the subfamily Myrmicinae, trail pheromones are mostly produced in the venom gland, while in the subfamily Formicinae, they come from the rectal gland.
The major component of the trail pheromone of the leaf-cutting ant,Atta sexdens rubropilosa forel
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 1979
The major component of the trail pheromone of the South American leaf-cutting ant, Atta sexdens rubropilosa Forel, is 3-ethyl-2,5dimethylpyrazine (II). Methyl and ethyl phenylacetate and methyl 4methylpyrrole-2-carboxylate (I), which is the major component of the trail pheromone of A. texana (Buekley) and A. cephalotes (L.), were also identified and may be minor components. The pheromone is stored in the poison gland. Atta sexdens sexdens (L.) also responds strongly to the pyrazine, which in large amounts evokes a weak response from A. texana, A. cephalotes, and Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich). Foraging workers of Atta sexdens rubropilosa did not preferentially pick up baits impregnated with the pyrazine. The pyrazine was puffed into the nests ofA. cephalotes, and a particular response called "milling" was noted.