Sex-pairing pheromone of Ancistrotermes dimorphus (Isoptera: Macrotermitinae) |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China;2. State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China;3. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Biodiversity, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204, China;1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China;2. Laboratory of Environmental Chang in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 818 South Beijing Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, China;3. Department of Botany, Narasinha Dutt College, 129, Bellilious Road, Howrah 711101, India;4. The College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea;1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan 666303, China;2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;3. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Biodiversity, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204, China;4. State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China;5. Environment, Earth and Ecosystems, Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space and Astronomical Research, The Open University, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom |
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| Abstract: | Ancistrotermes dimorphus is a common Macrotermitinae representative, facultative inquiline by its life-style, occurring in South-East China. Sex pheromone is used for couple formation and maintenance, and it is produced by and released from the female sternal gland and is highly attractive to males. Based on our combined behavioral, chemical and electrophysiological analyses, we identified (3Z,6Z)-dodeca-3,6-dien-1-ol as the female sex pheromone of A. dimorphus as it evoked the tandem behavior at short distance, and the active quantities ranged from 0.01 ng to 10 ng. Interestingly, GC–MS analyses of SPME extracts showed another compound specific to the female sternal gland, (3Z)-dodec-3-en-1-ol, which showed a clear GC-EAD response. However, this compound has no behavioral function in natural concentrations (0.1 ng), while higher amounts (1 ng) inhibit the attraction achieved by (3Z,6Z)-dodeca-3,6-dien-1-ol. The function of (3Z)-dodec-3-en-1-ol is not fully understood, but might be linked to recognition from sympatric species using the same major compound, enhancing the long-distance attraction, or informing about presence of other colonies using the compound as a trail-following pheromone. The sternal gland secretion of Ancistrotermes females contains additional candidate compounds, namely (3E,6Z)-dodeca-3,6-dien-1-ol and (6Z)-dodec-6-en-1-ol, which are not perceived by males’ antennae in biologically relevant amounts. |
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| Keywords: | Courtship behavior Fungus-growing termite |
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