Abstract
Cephalic extracts of two unrelated species of ants,Leptogenys processionalis andPogonomyrmex rugosus, have been found to contain 2-phenylpropenal and 2-phenyl-2-butenal, while two other species related to the first,L. chinensis andL. kitteli, lacked either.L. kitteli also produced a tetrasubstituted pyrazine found previously only in two New Zealand ants in the genusMesoponera. The chemical reactivity of the phenylalkenals suggests their function in repelling attack by predators.
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Fales, H.M., Jones, T.H., Jaouni, T. et al. Phenylalkenals in ponerine(Leptogenys sp.) and myrmicine (Pogonomyrmex sp.) ants. J Chem Ecol 18, 847–854 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988325
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988325
Key words
- Phenylalkenals
- Leptogenys spp
- Pogonomyrmex rugosus
- Hymenoptera
- Formicidae
- 2-phenylpropenal
- 2-phenyl-2-butenal
- 2,5-dimethyl-3-(1-methyl) butylpyrazine
- 2,5-dimethyl-3-isopentylpyrazine
- 2,5-dimethyl-3-isopentenyl-6-isopentylpyrazine
- 4-methyl-3-heptanone
- 5-methyl-3-hexanone
- Maillard reaction
- benzaldehyde
- chemoreceptors
- defensive allomones