The Alarm Pheromone and Alarm Response of the Clonal Raider Ant.

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Version: Final published version
License: CC BY 4.0
Serval ID
serval:BIB_AC8D1DD3C3EE
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
The Alarm Pheromone and Alarm Response of the Clonal Raider Ant.
Journal
Journal of chemical ecology
Author(s)
Lopes L.E., Frank E.T., Kárpáti Z., Schmitt T., Kronauer DJC
ISSN
1573-1561 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0098-0331
Publication state
Published
Issued date
02/2023
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
49
Number
1-2
Pages
1-10
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article
Publication Status: ppublish
Abstract
Ants communicate via an arsenal of different pheromones produced in a variety of exocrine glands. For example, ants release alarm pheromones in response to danger to alert their nestmates and to trigger behavioral alarm responses. Here we characterize the alarm pheromone and the alarm response of the clonal raider ant Ooceraea biroi, a species that is amenable to laboratory studies but for which no pheromones have been identified. During an alarm response, ants quickly become unsettled, leave their nest pile, and are sometimes initially attracted to the source of alarm, but ultimately move away from it. We find that the alarm pheromone is released from the head of the ant and identify the putative alarm pheromone as a blend of two compounds found in the head, 4-methyl-3-heptanone and 4-methyl-3-heptanol. These compounds are sufficient to induce alarm behavior alone and in combination. They elicit similar, though slightly different behavioral features of the alarm response, with 4-methyl-3-heptanone being immediately repulsive and 4-methyl-3-heptanol being initially attractive before causing ants to move away. The behavioral response to these compounds in combination is dose-dependent, with ants becoming unsettled and attracted to the source of alarm pheromone at low concentrations and repulsed at high concentrations. While 4-methyl-3-heptanone and 4-methyl-3-heptanol are known alarm pheromones in other more distantly related ant species, this is the first report of the chemical identity of a pheromone in O. biroi, and the first alarm pheromone identified in the genus Ooceraea. Identification of a pheromone that triggers a robust, consistent, and conserved behavior, like the alarm pheromone, provides an avenue to dissect the behavioral and neuronal mechanisms underpinning chemical communication.
Keywords
Animals, Pheromones/chemistry, Ants/physiology, Heptanol, Ketones, 4-methyl-3-heptanol, 4-methyl-3-heptanone, Chemical communication, Formicidae, Ooceraea biroi, Social behavior
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
13/03/2023 18:03
Last modification date
23/01/2024 8:32
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