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Genetic Distance and Age Affect the Cuticular Chemical Profiles of the Clonal Ant Cerapachys biroi

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Abstract

Although cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) have received much attention from biologists because of their important role in insect communication, few studies have addressed the chemical ecology of clonal species of eusocial insects. In this study we investigated whether and how differences in CHCs relate to the genetics and reproductive dynamics of the parthenogenetic ant Cerapachys biroi. We collected individuals of different ages and subcastes from several colonies belonging to four clonal lineages, and analyzed their cuticular chemical signature. CHCs varied according to colonies and clonal lineages in two independent data sets, and correlations were found between genetic and chemical distances between colonies. This supports the results of previous research showing that C. biroi workers discriminate between nestmates and non-nestmates, especially when they belong to different clonal lineages. In C. biroi, the production of individuals of a morphological subcaste specialized in reproduction is inversely proportional to colony-level fertility. As chemical signatures usually correlate with fertility and reproductive activity in social Hymenoptera, we asked whether CHCs could function as fertility-signaling primer pheromones determining larval subcaste fate in C. biroi. Interestingly, and contrary to findings for several other ant species, fertility and reproductive activity showed no correlation with chemical signatures, suggesting the absence of fertility related CHCs. This implies that other cues are responsible for subcaste differentiation in this species.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Paul Devienne and Marjorie Labédan for technical support with ant colonies at LEEC, and Chloé Leroy for technical assistance with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. This work was supported by a Ph.D. research grant from the French Ministry of Research to S.T., as well as a Junior Fellowship from the Harvard Society of Fellows and a Milton Fund Award to D.J.C.K. All coauthors have agreed on the contents of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, EA4443, Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 99 avenue J.B. Clément, Villetaneuse, 93430, France

    Serafino Teseo, Emmanuel Lecoutey, Pierre Jaisson & Nicolas Châline

  2. Laboratoire Evolution, Génomes et Spéciation, CNRS-UPR 9034, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, Cedex, France

    Serafino Teseo

  3. Laboratory of Insect Social Evolution, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Daniel J. C. Kronauer

  4. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Daniel J. C. Kronauer

  5. Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Israel

    Abraham Hefetz

  6. UMR-CNRS 7261, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université François Rabelais, Tours 37200, France

    Alain Lenoir

  7. Departamento de Biologia, FCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, 14040-901, Ribeirão Preto - SP, Brazil

    Nicolas Châline

  8. Department of Experimental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Mello Moraes, 1721, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, 05508-030, Brazil

    Nicolas Châline

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  1. Serafino Teseo
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  2. Emmanuel Lecoutey
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  3. Daniel J. C. Kronauer
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  4. Abraham Hefetz
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  5. Alain Lenoir
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  6. Pierre Jaisson
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  7. Nicolas Châline
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Correspondence to Serafino Teseo.

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Teseo, S., Lecoutey, E., Kronauer, D.J.C. et al. Genetic Distance and Age Affect the Cuticular Chemical Profiles of the Clonal Ant Cerapachys biroi . J Chem Ecol 40, 429–438 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-014-0428-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-014-0428-y

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