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 0.01ng to 10ng. 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 (0.1ng), while higher amounts (1ng) 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.

Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Insect Sciences College of Agriculture and Biotechnology Zhejiang University Hangzhou Zhejiang 310058 China

IRD Sorbonne Universités iEES Paris U 242 Bondy France; University Paris 13 Sorbonne Paris Cité LEEC EA 4443 Villetaneuse France

Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Science Kunming Yunnan 650223 China

Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Science Kunming Yunnan 650223 China; Institute of Insect Sciences College of Agriculture and Biotechnology Zhejiang University Hangzhou Zhejiang 310058 China; Jiangsu Agrochemical Laboratory Changzhou Jiangsu 212022 China

Termite Control Center of Fangchengang Fangchengang Guangxi 538001 China

Citace poskytuje Crossref.org

Sex-Pairing Pheromones in Three Sympatric Neotropical Termite Species (Termitidae: Syntermitinae)

Breaking the cipher: ant eavesdropping on the variational trail pheromone of its termite prey

Smells Like Home: Chemically Mediated Co-Habitation of Two Termite Species in a Single Nest