Queen sex pheromone of the slave-making ant, Polyergus breviceps

Genetic and chemical divergence among host races of a socially parasitic ant

Host-parasite associations facilitate the action of reciprocal selection and can drive rapid evolutionary change. When multiple host species are available to a single parasite, parallel specialization on different hosts may promote the action of diversifying natural selection and divergence via host race formation. Here, we examine a population of the kidnapper ant (Polyergus mexicanus) that is an obligate social parasite of three sympatric ant species: Formica accreta, F. argentea, and F. subaenescens (formerly F. fusca). Behavioral and ecological observations of P. mexicanus have shown that individual colonies parasitize only one species of host and that new Polyergus queens maintain host fidelity when establishing new colonies. To successfully adapt to a particular host, Polyergus ants may mimic or camouflage themselves with the species-specific chemical cues (cuticular hydrocarbons) that their hosts use to ascertain colony membership. To investigate the extent of host specialization, we collected both genetic and chemical data from P. mexicanus that parasitize each of the three different Formica species in sympatry. We show that host-associated genetic structure exists for both maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA data and biparentally inherited microsatellite markers. We also show that P. mexicanus can be distinguished by chemical profile according to host due to partial matching with their host. Our results support the hypothesis that host race formation is occurring among lineages of P. mexicanus that use different Formica hosts. Thus, this system may represent a promising model for illuminating the early steps of divergence, accumulation of reproductive isolation, and speciation.

Sex Attractant Pheromones of Virgin Queens of Sympatric Slave-Making Ant Species in the Genus Polyergus, and their Possible Roles in Reproductive Isolation

Species of the ant genus Polyergus are social parasites that steal brood from colonies of their hosts in the closely related genus Formica. Upon emergence as adults in a mixed population, host Formica workers carry out all the normal worker functions within the Polyergus colony, including foraging, feeding, grooming, and rearing brood of the parasitic Polyergus ants. Some unmated Polyergus gynes (queens) run in the raiding columns of their colonies and attract males by releasing a pheromone from their mandibular glands. There are two Polyergus species groups in North America: an eastern P. lucidus group and a western P. breviceps group. One species of each of these groups, P. lucidus Mayr and P. mexicanus Emery, are sympatric in Missouri. In this study, we characterized the sex pheromones of virgin queens of two species of the P. lucidus group (P. lucidus sensu stricto and P. sanwaldi) and one species of the P. breviceps group (P. mexicanus), and compared these with the previously identified sex pheromone of P. topoffi of the P. breviceps group. We then used sex pheromone blends reconstructed from synthesized components of the two groups to test their efficacy at reproductively isolating these species. We found that methyl 6-methylsalicylate is conserved as the major component of the pheromone blends for both Polyergus species groups; however, methyl (R)-3-ethyl-4-methylpentanoate is the species-specific minor component produced by P. lucidus group queens, and (R)-3-ethyl-4-methylpentan-1-ol is the crucial minor component for P. breviceps group queens. The optimal ratio of the major and minor components for P. lucidus group queens was about 100:1 salicylate to ester. In concurrent field trials in Missouri, males of P. lucidus sensu stricto and P. mexicanus (a member of the P. breviceps group) were attracted almost exclusively to their particular blends of sex pheromone components. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a possible sex-pheromone-based reproductive isolating mechanism in ants.

Chemical Characterization of Young Virgin Queens and Mated Egg-Laying Queens in the Ant Cataglyphis cursor: Random Forest Classification Analysis for Multivariate Datasets

Social insects are well known for their extremely rich chemical communication, yet their sex pheromones remain poorly studied. In the thermophilic and thelytokous ant, Cataglyphis cursor, we analyzed the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles and Dufour's gland contents of queens of different age and reproductive status (sexually immature gynes, sexually mature gynes, mated and egg-laying queens) and of workers. Random forest classification analyses showed that the four groups of individuals were well separated for both chemical sources, except mature gynes that clustered with queens for cuticular hydrocarbons and with immature gynes for Dufour's gland secretions. Analyses carried out with two groups of females only allowed identification of candidate chemicals for queen signal and for sexual attractant. In particular, gynes produced more undecane in the Dufour's gland. This chemical is both the sex pheromone and the alarm pheromone of the ant Formica lugubris. It may therefore act as sex pheromone in C. cursor, and/or be involved in the restoration of monogyny that occurs rapidly following colony fission. Indeed, new colonies often start with several gynes and all but one are rapidly culled by workers, and this process likely involves chemical signals between gynes and workers. These findings open novel opportunities for experimental studies of inclusive mate choice and queen choice in C. cursor.

Chiral Acylic Synthetic Intermediates from Readily Available Monoterpenoids

The preparation of some acyclic chiral synthetic intermediates from readily available monoterpenoids including citronellol, linalool and limonene, is reviewed. Some applications of these synthons are described.

Coffee berry borer joins bark beetles in coffee klatch

Unanswered key questions in bark beetle-plant interactions concern host finding in species attacking angiosperms in tropical zones and whether management strategies based on chemical signaling used for their conifer-attacking temperate relatives may also be applied in the tropics. We hypothesized that there should be a common link in chemical signaling mediating host location by these Scolytids. Using laboratory behavioral assays and chemical analysis we demonstrate that the yellow-orange exocarp stage of coffee berries, which attracts the coffee berry borer, releases relatively high amounts of volatiles including conophthorin, chalcogran, frontalin and sulcatone that are typically associated with Scolytinae chemical ecology. The green stage of the berry produces a much less complex bouquet containing small amounts of conophthorin but no other compounds known as bark beetle semiochemicals. In behavioral assays, the coffee berry borer was attracted to the spiroacetals conophthorin and chalcogran, but avoided the monoterpenes verbenone and α-pinene, demonstrating that, as in their conifer-attacking relatives in temperate zones, the use of host and non-host volatiles is also critical in host finding by tropical species. We speculate that microorganisms formed a common basis for the establishment of crucial chemical signals comprising inter- and intraspecific communication systems in both temperate- and tropical-occurring bark beetles attacking gymnosperms and angiosperms.

Divergent chemical cues elicit seed collecting by ants in an obligate multi-species mutualism in lowland Amazonia

In lowland Amazonian rainforests, specific ants collect seeds of several plant species and cultivate them in arboreal carton nests, forming species-specific symbioses called ant-gardens (AGs). In this obligate mutualism, ants depend on the plants for nest stability and the plants depend on ant nests for substrate and nutrients. AG ants and plants are abundant, dominant members of lowland Amazonian ecosystems, but the cues ants use to recognize the seeds are poorly understood. To address the chemical basis of the ant-seed interaction, we surveyed seed chemistry in nine AG species and eight non-AG congeners. We detected seven phenolic and terpenoid volatiles common to seeds of all or most of the AG species, but a blend of the shared compounds was not attractive to the AG ant Camponotus femoratus. We also analyzed seeds of three AG species (Anthurium gracile, Codonanthe uleana, and Peperomia macrostachya) using behavior-guided fractionation. At least one chromatographic fraction of each seed extract elicited retrieval behavior in C. femoratus, but the active fractions of the three plant species differed in polarity and chemical composition, indicating that shared compounds alone did not explain seed-carrying behavior. We suggest that the various AG seed species must elicit seed-carrying with different chemical cues.

Semiochemicals used in host location by the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei

The coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei is a serious pest in many coffee growing countries. Electrophysiological and behavioral responses of H. hampei to volatiles of different phenological stages of coffee, Coffea arabica, fruits were studied in order to identify volatile semiochemicals used in host location. Volatiles were collected from different phenological stages of C. arabica fruit by air entrainment. Electrophysiological recordings were made from insect antennae. Behavioral assays were carried out using a Perspex four-arm olfactometer. Insects spent significantly more time in the region of the olfactometer where ripe and dry fruit volatiles were present compared to control regions. Coupled gas chromatography--electroantennography revealed the presence of six electrophysiologically active compounds in C. arabica volatiles. These were identified by using GC and GC-MS as methylcyclohexane, ethylbenzene, nonane, 1-octen-3-ol, (R)-limonene, and (R)-3-ethyl-4-methylpentanol. In the olfactometer bioassay, H. hampei showed a significant response to 3-ethyl-4-methylpentanol, methylcyclohexane, nonane, ethylbenzene, and a synthetic blend of these four compounds. Attraction to the synthetic blend was comparable to that for the natural sample. The significance of the study is discussed in terms of semiochemical based pest management methods of the coffee berry borer.

Seed odor mediates an obligate ant-plant mutualism in Amazonian rainforests

Seed dispersal mutualisms are essential for the survival of diverse plant species and communities worldwide. Among invertebrates, only ants have a major role in seed dispersal, and thousands of plant species produce seeds specialized for ant dispersal in "diffuse" multispecies interactions. An outstanding but poorly understood ant-seed mutualism occurs in the Amazonian rainforest, where arboreal ants collect seeds of several epiphyte species and cultivate them in nutrient-rich nests, forming abundant and conspicuous hanging gardens known as ant-gardens (AGs). AG ants and plants are dominant members of lowland Amazonian ecosystems, and their interaction is both specific and obligate, but the means by which ants locate, recognize, and accept their mutualist seeds while rejecting other seeds is unknown. Here we address the chemical and behavioral basis of the AG interaction. We show that workers of the AG ant Camponotus femoratus are attracted to odorants emanating from seeds of the AG plant Peperomia macrostachya, and that chemical cues also elicit seed-carrying behavior. We identify five compounds from P. macrostachya seeds that, as a blend, attract C. femoratus workers. This report of attractive odorants from ant-dispersed seeds illustrates the intimacy and complexity of the AG mutualism and begins to illuminate the chemical basis of this important and enigmatic interaction.

Significance of chirality in pheromone science

Pheromones play important roles in chemical communication among organisms. Various chiral and non-racemic pheromones have been identified since the late 1960s. Their enantioselective syntheses could establish the absolute configuration of the naturally occurring pheromones and clarified the relationships between absolute configuration and bioactivity. For example, neither the (R)- nor (S)-enantiomer of sulcatol, the aggregation pheromone of an ambrosia beetle Gnathotrichus sulcatus, is behaviorally active, while their mixture is bioactive. In the case of olean, the olive fruit fly pheromone, its (R)-isomer is active for the males, and the (S)-isomer is active for the females. About 140 chiral pheromones are reviewed with regard to their stereochemistry-bioactivity relationships. Problems encountered in studying chirality of pheromones were examined and analyzed to think about possible future directions in pheromone science.