Abstract
Trail pheromones deposited by ants lead nestmates to food sources. Based on previous evidence that the trail pheromone of the carpenter ant Camponotus modoc originates from the hindgut, our objective in this study was to identify the key component(s) of the pheromone. We collected C. modoc colonies from conifer forests and maintained them in an outdoor enclosure near our laboratory for chemical analyses and behavioral experiments. In gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection and gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analyses of worker ant hindgut extracts, we identified five candidate components: 2,4-dimethylhexanoic acid, 2,4-dimethyl-5-hexanolide, pentadecane, dodecanoic acid and 3,4-dihydro-8-hydroxy-3,5,7-trimethylisocoumarin. In a series of trail-following experiments, ants followed trails of synthetic 2,4-dimethyl-5-hexanolide, a blend of the five compounds, and hindgut extract over similar distances, indicating that the hexanolide accounted for the entire behavioral activity of the hindgut extract. The hexanolide not only mediated orientation of C. modoc foragers on trails, it also attracted them over distance, indicating a dual function. Further analyses and bioassays with racemic and stereoselectively synthesized hexanolides revealed that the ants produce, and respond to, the (2S,4R,5S)-stereoisomer. The same stereoisomer is a trail pheromone component in several Camponotus congeners, indicating significant overlap in their respective trail pheromone communication systems.
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03 March 2020
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Acknowledgments
We thank three anonymous reviewers for constructive comments; Michael Gudmundson for field assistance in locating and collecting ant nests; Grady Ott for generously donating plastic bins for housing ants; Adam Blake and Leithen M’Gonigle for statistical and graphics advice; Laurel Hansen and Robert Higgins for assistance in ant identification; and Adriana Ibtisam, Jasper Li, April Lin, Nicholas Low and Zhanata Almazbekova for help with ant care. This research was supported by a MPM graduate entrance scholarship, a Thelma Finlayson graduate entrance scholarship, a Graduate Fellowship from Simon Fraser University and by an Alexander Graham Bell CGSM from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to AR. The research was further supported by an NSERC–Industrial Research Chair to GG with Scotts Canada Ltd. as the industrial sponsor.
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Renyard, A., Alamsetti, S.K., Gries, R. et al. Identification of the Trail Pheromone of the Carpenter Ant Camponotus modoc. J Chem Ecol 45, 901–913 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-019-01114-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-019-01114-z