Chemical identity of recently emerged workers, males, and queens in the stingless bee Melipona marginata

Epicuticular hydrocarbons are involved in several behavioral processes in social insects including recognition of nestmates, castes, and sex. The aim of the present study was to characterize and to verify differences in the chemical profiles of 1-day recently emerged workers, males, and queens in co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Apidologie 2013-11, Vol.44 (6), p.657-665
Main Authors: Ferreira-Caliman, Maria J, Falcón, Tiago, Mateus, Sidnei, Zucchi, Ronaldo, Nascimento, Fabio S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural sciences
alkanes
alkenes
Animal and plant ecology
Animal biology
Animal production studies
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Autoecology
Biodiversity
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Ecology, environment
Entomology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
gas chromatography
Invertebrate Zoology
Life Sciences
males
mass spectrometry
Melipona
multivariate analysis
Original Article
Protozoa. Invertebrata
social insects
stingless bees
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Summary:Epicuticular hydrocarbons are involved in several behavioral processes in social insects including recognition of nestmates, castes, and sex. The aim of the present study was to characterize and to verify differences in the chemical profiles of 1-day recently emerged workers, males, and queens in colonies of the stingless bee Melipona marginata. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and multivariate analyses of bee samples from three colonies clearly separated cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of males, queens, and workers. The results showed that cuticular hydrocarbon profiles were comprised of alkanes, alkenes, and methyl alkanes that varied quantitatively and qualitatively according to the castes and sex. Different from previous studies, our investigation also demonstrated that males and queens presented higher similarity in their epicuticular hydrocarbons than to workers.
ISSN:0044-8435
1297-9678
DOI:10.1007/s13592-013-0214-9