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Males and females of the social wasp Ropalidia marginata do not differ in their cuticular hydrocarbon profiles and do not seem to use any long-distance volatile mate attraction cues

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Abstract

Sex pheromones are vital in communication between individuals belonging to opposite sexes and form an integral part of the reproductive biology of various species. Among insects, sexual dimorphism in CHCs has been reported from diverse taxa spanning seven different orders, and thereby CHCs have been implicated as sex pheromones. Because males and females of the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata touch each other with their antennae during mating, before engaging in sperm transfer, a sex pheromone that is perceived via contact chemosensation through the antennae can possibly exist in this species. Since CHCs have been implied as sex pheromones in various insects (including hymenopterans), and since sexual dimorphism of CHCs should be an obligatory prerequisite for them to act as sex pheromones, we investigated whether males and females of R. marginata differ in their CHC profiles. We found only nonvolatile CHCs, and our results show absence of sexual dimorphism in CHCs, suggesting that CHCs do not function as sex pheromone in this species. A behavioral assay failed to show presence of mate attraction at a distance, thereby showing the absence of volatile long-distance mate attraction cues (that may originate from sources other than and in addition to CHCs).

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Biotechnology, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India for financial assistance. Chemical analyses were done by AM, RPN, AR, and PS, and statistical analysis was done by AM, RPN, and PS. Behavioral assays were done by RPN. The paper was co-written by AM and RG, and RG supervised the overall work. All experiments reported here comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    A. Mitra, R. Palavalli Nettimi, A. Ramachandran, P. Saha & R. Gadagkar

  2. Laboratoire Evolution, Génomes, Comportement, Ecologie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1, avenue de la Terrasse, Batiment 13, 91198, Gif Sur Yvette, France

    A. Mitra

  3. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, 411008, India

    R. Palavalli Nettimi

  4. Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    A. Ramachandran

  5. Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, 560064, India

    R. Gadagkar

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  1. A. Mitra
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Correspondence to A. Mitra.

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Mitra, A., Palavalli Nettimi, R., Ramachandran, A. et al. Males and females of the social wasp Ropalidia marginata do not differ in their cuticular hydrocarbon profiles and do not seem to use any long-distance volatile mate attraction cues. Insect. Soc. 62, 281–289 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-015-0408-4

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