title: The influence of slavemaking lifestyle, caste and sex on chemical profiles inTemnothoraxants: insights into the evolution of cuticular hydrocarbons.
abstract: Chemical communication is central for the formation and maintenance of insect societies. Generally, social insects only allow nest-mates into their colony, which are recognized by their cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). Social parasites, which exploit insect societies, are selected to circumvent host recognition. Here, we studied whether chemical strategies to reduce recognition evolved convergently in slavemaking ants, and whether they extend to workers, queens and males alike. We studied CHCs of three social parasites and their related hosts to investigate whether the parasitic lifestyle selects for specific chemical traits that reduce host recognition. Slavemaker profiles were characterized by shorter-chained hydrocarbons and a shift from methyl-branched alkanes ton-alkanes, presumably to reduce recognition cue quantity. These shifts were consistent across independent origins of slavery and were found in isolated ants and those emerging in their mother colony. Lifestyle influenced profiles of workers most profoundly, with little effect on virgin queen profiles. We detected an across-species caste signal, with workers, for which nest-mate recognition is particularly important, carrying more and longer-chained hydrocarbons and males exhibiting a larger fraction ofn-alkanes. This comprehensive study of CHCs across castes and species reveals how lifestyle-specific selection can result in convergent evolution of chemical phenotypes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Johannes-von-Müller Weg 6, Mainz 55128, Germany.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kleeberg
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Johannes-von-Müller Weg 6, Mainz 55128, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9673-3668
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Menzel
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Johannes-von-Müller Weg 6, Mainz 55128, Germany foitzik@uni-mainz.de.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8161-6306
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Foitzik
mesh_terms: D000473:Alkanes; D060105:Animal Shells / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005260:Female; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D012737:Sex Factors; D012919:Social Behavior
chemical_list: D000473:Alkanes; D006838:Hydrocarbons
keywords: chemical strategies; cuticular hydrocarbons; dulosis; host–parasite coevolution; odour; social parasites