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Characterization of cuticular hydrocarbons in a subsocial bee, Ceratina calcarata

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Abstract

Research on cuticular hydrocarbons of solitary and eusocial bees has greatly contributed to our understanding of the evolution of eusociality. However, to understand the transition from simple to complex societies, understanding subsocial species is necessary. Subsociality, defined as prolonged parental care, is a pre-requisite for eusociality yet cuticular hydrocarbons of subsocial bees are not well characterized. Here we present the first characterization and analysis of cuticular hydrocarbons in a subsocial bee, Ceratina calcarata Robertson. We found that cuticular hydrocarbons signal both age and reproductive status in this species. Pre-reproductive, virgin females overexpress three compounds, heneicosane, farnesol, and nonadecane. We show that pentacosane, a known fertility signal, is likely used to signal reproduction in C. calcarata. Since we found a possible reproductive signal in a subsocial bee this suggests that queen pheromones likely evolved from pre-existing fertility signals.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Wyatt Shell and Sean Lombard for assistance with field collections and sample processing, Jacob Withee for helping with biometric measurements and statistical analyses, as well as Richard Kodrat and Ron New for assistance with GC/MS analyses. This work was supported by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch Project 1004515 and National Science Foundation Grant IOS-1456296 to SMR.

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Correspondence to S. M. Rehan.

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Pizzi, N.J., Rehan, S.M. Characterization of cuticular hydrocarbons in a subsocial bee, Ceratina calcarata. Insect. Soc. 68, 351–358 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-021-00833-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-021-00833-5

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