Ants use species-specific trail pheromones to coordinate their sophisticated foraging behavior.During the past decades,many trail pheromone components with various structures have been identified in ants,including the...Ants use species-specific trail pheromones to coordinate their sophisticated foraging behavior.During the past decades,many trail pheromone components with various structures have been identified in ants,including the red imported fire ant,Solenopsis invicta,a notorious invasive species worldwide.Four compounds,Z,E-(ZEF)and E,E-α-farnesene(EEF),Z,E-(ZEHF)and E,E-α-homofarnesene(EEHF),have been reported as components of S.invicta trail pheromone.However,another study reported an analog ofα-farnesene,Z,Z,Z-allofarnesene,as a key trail pheromone component.These contrasting results caused some uncertainty about the trail pheromone composition in S.invicta.In this study,we synthesized ZEF and EEF,ZEHF and EEHF,and reanalyzed the chemicals in the Dufour gland extract and in the trail pheromone fraction of S.invicta worker body extract.The reported isomers of farnesene and homofarnesene were detected and showed trail-following activity,with ZEF as the major compound,while no allofarnesene was found,neither in the Dufour gland extract nor in the whole-body extract.Our results confirm ZEF and EEF,ZEHF and EEHF as trail pheromone components of S.invicta.展开更多
基金supported by National Key R&D Program of China(Grant No.2021YFD1000500)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.31702050 and 32070488)the State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents(Grant No.ChineseIPM1410).
文摘Ants use species-specific trail pheromones to coordinate their sophisticated foraging behavior.During the past decades,many trail pheromone components with various structures have been identified in ants,including the red imported fire ant,Solenopsis invicta,a notorious invasive species worldwide.Four compounds,Z,E-(ZEF)and E,E-α-farnesene(EEF),Z,E-(ZEHF)and E,E-α-homofarnesene(EEHF),have been reported as components of S.invicta trail pheromone.However,another study reported an analog ofα-farnesene,Z,Z,Z-allofarnesene,as a key trail pheromone component.These contrasting results caused some uncertainty about the trail pheromone composition in S.invicta.In this study,we synthesized ZEF and EEF,ZEHF and EEHF,and reanalyzed the chemicals in the Dufour gland extract and in the trail pheromone fraction of S.invicta worker body extract.The reported isomers of farnesene and homofarnesene were detected and showed trail-following activity,with ZEF as the major compound,while no allofarnesene was found,neither in the Dufour gland extract nor in the whole-body extract.Our results confirm ZEF and EEF,ZEHF and EEHF as trail pheromone components of S.invicta.
