title: Phenylalkenals in ponerine(Leptogenys sp.) and myrmicine (Pogonomyrmex sp.) ants.
abstract: Cephalic extracts of two unrelated species of ants,Leptogenys processionalis andPogonomyrmex rugosus, have been found to contain 2-phenylpropenal and 2-phenyl-2-butenal, while two other species related to the first,L. chinensis andL. kitteli, lacked either.L. kitteli also produced a tetrasubstituted pyrazine found previously only in two New Zealand ants in the genusMesoponera. The chemical reactivity of the phenylalkenals suggests their function in repelling attack by predators.
authors.affiliation: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, 20892, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Fales
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jaouni
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Blum
authors.forename: J O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Schmidt