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Larval salivary glands are a source of primer and releaser pheromone in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.)

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Abstract

A brood pheromone identified in honeybee larvae has primer and releaser pheromone effects on adult bees. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to evaluate fatty acid esters—the pheromonal compounds—in different parts of the larvae, we have localized the source of the esters as the larval salivary glands. A histochemical study describes the glands and confirms the presence of lipids in the glands. Epithelial cells of the gland likely secrete the fatty acids into the lumen of the gland. These results demonstrate the salivary glands to be a reservoir of esters, components of brood pheromone, in honeybee larvae.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank M. Winston and H. Higo of the Department of Biosciences, SFU, for providing honeybees and access to the SFU apiary. We are grateful to K. Benusic and C. I. Keeling for technical help and to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada for financial support (E. P., grant RGPIN222923 and K. N. S., grant RGPIN3785). We thank G. Mauchamp, C. Pélissier, and two anonymous referees for improving this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR INRA/UAPV Ecologie des Invertébrés, Laboratoire Biologie et Protection de l’abeille, Site Agroparc, Domaine Saint-Paul, 84914, Avignon, Cedex 9, France

    Yves Le Conte, Jean-Marc Bécard, Gérard de Vaublanc, Mohamed El Maâtaoui & Didier Crauser

  2. GRAPPA, INRA, Site Agroparc, Domaine Saint-Paul, 84914, Avignon, Cedex 9, France

    Guy Costagliola

  3. Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada

    Erika Plettner & Keith N. Slessor

Authors
  1. Yves Le Conte
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  2. Jean-Marc Bécard
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  3. Guy Costagliola
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  4. Gérard de Vaublanc
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  5. Mohamed El Maâtaoui
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  6. Didier Crauser
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  7. Erika Plettner
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  8. Keith N. Slessor
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Correspondence to Yves Le Conte.

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Conte, Y.L., Bécard, JM., Costagliola, G. et al. Larval salivary glands are a source of primer and releaser pheromone in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.). Naturwissenschaften 93, 237–241 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0089-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0089-y

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