Alerting pheromone:
Alerting
pheromones are used by many organisms for danger, food source ect.
The chemical
citral n the stingless bee Lestrimelitta limao has been found in the mandibular gland. This
chemical serves as a recruiting (alerting) pheromone when L.limao workers attack the nests
of other stingless bees and may perhaps also function as an offensive substance (Blum, 1966).
Citral also occurs in the mandibulargland secretion of the myrmecine ant Atta
sexdens rubropilosa and functions as an alerting substance (Butenandt et al.,1959). This kind of alerting
scent is also exhibited in bedbugs,Cimex lectularius
L. (Levinson and Anna ,1971).
The chemical 2-Heptanone
has been identified in the anal glands of the ants Conomyrma pyramica (Roger) (Blum and Warter, 1966) and Iridomyrmex pruinosus (Blum,
Warter and Traynham, 1966), wherein, the
chemical functions as an alerting and recruiting pheromone, and also probably for defence.
Foragers of Bombus terrestris
are able to alert their nestmates to the presence of food sources. It has been
supposed that this happens at least partially through the distribution of a
pheromone inside the nest. The hexane extract from tergites V–VII of bumble bee
workers elicits higher activity, like a successful forager does (Dornhaus et al.,2003). While, Granero et al. (2005)
have identified the chemicals involved as the presence of two
monoterpenes and one sesquiterpene (eucalyptol, ocimene and farnesol) in the
nest airspace and in the tergal glands increases strongly during foraging.
Pacus,
Piaractus mesopotamicus, detecting the presence of a predator by
conspecific alerting pheromone is
reported. (Jordão and Volpato,2000). At least two chemicals might be
involved, one of them possibly an alerting pheromone.
When
honeybees sting an object they release pheromones that direct the attack of
other bees towards it. 2-heptanone is the principal aggression-provoking
component in the secretion of the mandibular gland (Free and Simpson,1968).
Secretion
from the posterior scent gland of fifth instar larvae of Dysdercus
intermedius Dist. (Hemiptera: Pyrrhocoridae) was analysed by a combination
of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Eight compounds, usually
comprising more than 99·9 per cent of the secretion, were identified: n-dodecane,
n-tridecane, n-pentadecane, hexanal, hex-2-en-1-al,
4-oxohex-2-en-1-al, oct-2-en-1-al, and 4-oxo-oct-2-en-1-al (Calam et al.,1968).
Within
the nest, the recruiter alerts its nestmates in Formicidae by a specific
behaviour which consists of an accelerated antennal beating. Possibly, an
alerting pheromone is emitted during this invitational behaviour, issued either
from the mandibular or the poison gland (Verhaeghe,1982).
In bumble bees (Bombus terrestris),
for example, successful foragers use excited motor displays and a pheromone as
communication signals. In addition, bees could make use of an indirect pathway
of information flow (Dornhaus and Chittka,2005).
In addition to
the information potential foragers can get by monitoring the honeypots,
successful foragers actively alert bees in the nest to the presence of food
using pheromone signals. When colony nectar stores are depleted, foragers spend
more time running excitedly and less time probing pots in the nest and run with
higher average speed, possibly to disperse the alerting pheromone more
efficiently. (Dornhaus et al., 2003).
Hex-2-en-1-al
and Oct-2-en-1-al
functions as assembling and alerting
scents produced by the bedbug Cimex
lectularius L (Levinson and Ilan,1971).
Blum, M. S., 1996, Semiochemical parsimony
in the Arthropoda, Annu. Rev. Entomol.,41:353-374.
Blum,M
. S., Warters, . L. and Traynhaj. M.G.1966. Chemical releasers of social
behaviour. VI.The relation of structure to activity of ketones as releasers of
alarm for Iridomyrmex pruinosus (Roger).
J. Insect
Physiol.,12:419-27.
Butenandt, A., B. Linzen, and M.
Lindauer.1959.Uber einen Duftstoff aus der Mandibeldruse der
Blattschnelderameise Atta sexdens
rubropilosa Forel. Arch. Anat. micr. Morph.exp., 48(suppl.):12-19.
Calam, D.
H. and Youdeowei, A. 1968.Identification
and functions of secretion from the posterior scent gland of fifth instar larva
of the bug Dysdercus intermedius. Journal of Insect Physiology, 14(8):1147-1158.
Dornhaus,
A. and Chittka, L. 2005.Bumble bees (Bombus terrestris) store both food and
information in honeypots. Behavioral
Ecology, 16(3):661-666.
Dornhaus,
A., Brockmann, A. and Chittka, L. 2003. Bumble bees alert to food with
pheromone from tergal gland. Journal
of Comparative Physiology A, 189(1)47-51.
Dornhaus,
A., Brockmann, A., Chittka, A. 2003. Bumblebees alert to food with pheromone
from tergal glands. J Comp Phys A 189:47–51.
Free, J.
B. and Simpson, J. 1968. The alerting
pheromones of the honeybee. Zeitschrift
für vergleichende Physiologie, 61(3):361-365.
Granero,
A. M., Sanz, J. M. G., Gonzalez, F. J. E., Vidal, J. L. M., Dornhaus, A.,
Ghani, J. and Chittka, L. 2005. Chemical
compounds of the foraging recruitment pheromone in bumblebees. Naturwissenschaften, 92(8):371-374.
Jordão, L.
C. and Volpato, G. L. 2000. Chemical
transfer of warning information in non-injured fish. Behaviour, 137(6):681-690.
Levinson, H. Z. and
Anna, R. Bar
Ilan .1971.Assembling and alerting scents produced by the
bedbug Cimex lectularius L. Experientia., 27(1):02-103.
Levinson,
H. Z. and Ilan, A. R. B. 1971.Assembling
and alerting scents produced by the bedbug Cimex
lectularius L. Experientia,
27(1):102-103.
Verhaeghe,
J. C. 1982. Food recruitment in Tetramorium
impurum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insectes
Sociaux, 29(1):67-85.
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