Cuticular Hydrocarbon Pheromones for Social Behavior and Their Coding in the Ant Antenna.
The sophisticated organization of eusocial insect societies is largely based on the regulation of complex behaviors by hydrocarbon pheromones present on the cuticle. We used electrophysiology to investigate the detection of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) by female-specific olfactory sensilla basiconica on the antenna of Camponotus floridanus ants through the utilization of one of the largest family of odorant receptors characterized so far in insects. These sensilla, each of which contains multiple olfactory receptor neurons, are differentially sensitive to CHCs and allow them to be classified into three broad groups that collectively detect every hydrocarbon tested, including queen and worker-enriched CHCs. This broad-spectrum sensitivity is conserved in a related species, Camponotus laevigatus, allowing these ants to detect CHCs from both nestmates and non-nestmates. Behavioral assays demonstrate that these ants are excellent at discriminating CHCs detected by the antenna, including enantiomers of a candidate queen pheromone that regulates the reproductive division of labor.
Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Kavita R
KR
Sharma
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
Brittany L
BL
Enzmann
Institut für Organische Chemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Albertstrasse 21, 79104 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
Yvonne
Y
Schmidt
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
Dani
D
Moore
Chemical Ecology Group, School of Physical and Geographical Sciences, Lennard-Jones Laboratory, Keele University, Staffordshire ST5 5GB, UK.
Graeme R
GR
Jones
Chemical Ecology Group, School of Physical and Geographical Sciences, Lennard-Jones Laboratory, Keele University, Staffordshire ST5 5GB, UK.
Jane
J
Parker
Departments of Cell and Developmental Biology, Genetics, and Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Shelley L
SL
Berger
Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Biochemistry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Danny
D
Reinberg
Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA.
Laurence J
LJ
Zwiebel
Institut für Organische Chemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Albertstrasse 21, 79104 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
Bernhard
B
Breit
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
Jürgen
J
Liebig
Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. Electronic address: anand.ray@ucr.edu.
Anandasankar
A
Ray
D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D057506:Arthropod Antennae / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D055696:Olfactory Perception; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D010675:Pheromones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D012903:Smell; D012919:Social Behavior
D006838:Hydrocarbons; D010675:Pheromones