Insects must detect and respond to diverse chemical cues in a complex chemical landscape. Intraspecific and intraguild communication have received a lot of attention, especially among bee taxa. However, little is known about interspecific chemical communication in general and in non-bees in particular. Ants, such as Formica francoeuri, also are opportunistic floral visitors who seek the carbohydrate-rich rewards of flowers. Thus, these ants likely encounter aggressive competitors for nectar, such as bees. Here, we performed a series of experiments to examine how ant foragers respond to bee pheromones, venom and sting glands in the context of foraging. Understanding how ants utilize non-target chemical cues will identify previously cryptic interactions and provide new insights into the hidden mechanisms governing foraging decisions. As the foraging decisions by floral visitors have a direct impact on the pollination mutualism, studies such as this will help us build better predictive models of plant–pollinator networks and develop hypotheses as to how these interaction networks may change with shifts in the floral visitor community.

中文翻译：

---

Formica francoeuri 对社会蜜蜂的信息素和防御性化学线索作出反应

昆虫必须在复杂的化学环境中检测和响应不同的化学线索。种内和行内交流受到了很多关注，尤其是在蜜蜂类群中。然而，人们对种间化学通讯知之甚少，尤其是在非蜜蜂中。蚂蚁，例如佛米卡，也是机会主义的花卉访客，他们寻求鲜花中富含碳水化合物的奖励。因此，这些蚂蚁可能会遇到对花蜜具有侵略性的竞争者，例如蜜蜂。在这里，我们进行了一系列实验，以检查蚂蚁觅食者如何在觅食的背景下对蜜蜂信息素、毒液和刺腺作出反应。了解蚂蚁如何利用非目标化学线索将识别以前神秘的相互作用，并为控制觅食决策的隐藏机制提供新的见解。