Abstract
The complex system of communication used by social insects is responsible for their success on Earth. Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are considered the most commonly used form of communication among social insects. The best-known function of CHCs is to distinguish nestmates, providing cues to the whole colony to identify potential threats. In some species, CHCs function as queen pheromones, which contribute to the queens’ ability to regulate the reproductive division of labor. Additionally, differences of CHCs were described in castes and they are also important in sex recognition. Here, we reinvestigated the chemical composition on the cuticle of German wasp Vespula germanica and we found that proportions of linear alkanes were more abundant in the cuticle of queens than other castes. Chemical analysis between caste and sex, including data of virgin queens and males, showed that each group possesses different compositions on their cuticle, being mostly quantitative differences. Thus, individuals of V. germanica may recognize and discriminate caste and sex through subtle chemical variations, or alternatively, based on templates used in nestmate recognition. The chemical analysis provides correlative evidence of CHCs being used as cues in the chemical communication of this species.
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Data availability
Data was deposited in the supplementary section.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript.
Funding
This study was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001 and Grant 2018/22461-3 São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) to RCS. Additional funding was provided from Bilateral grant FWO-FAPESP to CAO, FSN and TW (process: 2018/10996-0 FAPESP and FWO: GOF8319N). Furthermore, Research Foundation Flanders to CAO (postdoctoral fellowship FWO-12V6318N). Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico also financially supported a productivity Grant to FSN (307702/2018-9). RLB was funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries (SFF 405195) and the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment SSIF.
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RCS and CAO contributed to study conceptualization and design. Material preparation, data collection and analyses were performed by RCS and CAO. The first draft of the manuscript was written by RCS and CAO. All authors commented and edited the previous versions of the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
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da Silva, R.C., Brown, R.L., do Nascimento, F.S. et al. Cuticular hydrocarbons as cues of caste and sex in the German wasp Vespula germanica. Insect. Soc. 68, 261–276 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-021-00817-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-021-00817-5