Abstract Primer pheromones play a pivotal role in the biology and social organization of insect societies. Despite their importance, they have been less studied because of the complexity of the required bioassays and, consequently, only a few of them have been chemically identified to date. The major primer pheromones are that of the queen pheromones that regulate reproductive skew and maintain colony cohesion and function. From a theoretical viewpoint, several features regarding the chemistry of queen pheromones can be predicted. They should be generally nonvolatile in order to avoid saturation of the colony space, which might otherwise hamper their perception because of sensory habituation. Accordingly, they should be actively dispersed throughout the colony by workers. The queen pheromone should also be caste-specific, qualitatively different from any worker pheromone, and preferably multicomponent, to allow unequivocal identification of the queen. The bi-potency of the female larvae in social Hymenoptera to become queen or worker necessitates strict regulation over pheromone production. Indeed, in the honeybee, the biosynthetic pathways as well as the genomic expressions are completely disparate between queens and workers. Future advances in chemical analyses, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics will enrich our understanding of the chemistry, mechanisms, and crucial role that primer pheromones play in social evolution.

中文翻译：

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引物信息素在维持昆虫社会性中的关键作用

摘要 引物信息素在昆虫社会的生物学和社会组织中起着举足轻重的作用。尽管它们很重要，但由于所需生物测定的复杂性，对它们的研究较少，因此，迄今为止，只有少数它们被化学鉴定。主要的引物信息素是调节生殖偏斜和维持菌落凝聚力和功能的蜂王信息素。从理论的角度来看，可以预测有关蜂王信息素化学的几个特征。它们通常应该是非挥发性的，以避免群体空间饱和，否则可能会因为感官习惯而妨碍他们的感知。因此，他们应该由工人积极分散到整个殖民地。女王信息素也应该是种姓特异性的，本质上不同于任何工蜂信息素，最好是多组分的，以便明确识别蜂王。社会膜翅目中的雌性幼虫成为女王或工人的双效性需要对信息素产生进行严格监管。事实上，在蜜蜂中，蜂王和工蜂的生物合成途径和基因组表达完全不同。化学分析、转录组学、蛋白质组学和代谢组学的未来进展将丰富我们对引物信息素在社会进化中所起的化学、机制和关键作用的理解。社会膜翅目中的雌性幼虫成为女王或工人的双效性需要对信息素产生进行严格监管。事实上，在蜜蜂中，蜂王和工蜂的生物合成途径和基因组表达完全不同。化学分析、转录组学、蛋白质组学和代谢组学的未来进展将丰富我们对引物信息素在社会进化中所起的化学、机制和关键作用的理解。社会膜翅目中的雌性幼虫成为女王或工人的双效性需要对信息素产生进行严格监管。事实上，在蜜蜂中，蜂王和工蜂的生物合成途径和基因组表达完全不同。化学分析、转录组学、蛋白质组学和代谢组学的未来进展将丰富我们对引物信息素在社会进化中所起的化学、机制和关键作用的理解。