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Solid-Phase Microextraction and Cuticular Hydrocarbon Differences Related to Reproductive Activity in Queenless Ant Dinoponera quadriceps

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Abstract

We extracted the cuticular hydrocarbons from live Dinoponera quadriceps ants (10 colonies collected from Brazil) with the solventless solid-phase microextraction (SPME) technique. Gas chromatography of the SPME samples (N = 233 measurements) compared with pentane extracts (N = 10) resulted in similar profiles. Eighty-one compounds belonging to the main long-chain hydrocarbon families were identified by GC-MS. There is no morphologically specialized queen in D. quadriceps and only one aggressively dominant worker (alpha) mates and reproduces in each colony. The alpha ant (N = 26 individuals) always yielded higher amounts and percentages of 9-hentriacontene (9-C31 : 1) than her sterile nestmates (N = 47). Since SPME is not destructive, it allowed for the repeated extraction of the same individuals, demonstrating that the alpha ant (virgin or mated) always had higher levels of 9-hentriacontene. This difference appears related to ovarian activity and may function as a signal of the alpha's dominance status.

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Author notes

  1. Christian Peeters

    Present address: CNRS URA 258, Laboratoire d'Ecologie, Université Pierre-et-Marie Curie, 7 quai Saint Bernard, 75252, Paris cedex 05, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS URA 667, Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, Université, Paris Nord, 93430, Villetaneuse, France

    Thibaud Monnin & Christian Peeters

  2. INRA, Unité de Phytopharmacie et Médiateurs Chimiques, route de Saint Cyr, 78026, Versailles cedex, France

    Christian Malosse

Authors
  1. Thibaud Monnin
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  2. Christian Malosse
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  3. Christian Peeters
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Monnin, T., Malosse, C. & Peeters, C. Solid-Phase Microextraction and Cuticular Hydrocarbon Differences Related to Reproductive Activity in Queenless Ant Dinoponera quadriceps . J Chem Ecol 24, 473–490 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022360718870

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