Smelling like resin: terpenoids account for species-specific cuticular profiles in Southeast-Asian stingless bees

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Insects may be unique in having a cuticle with a species-specific chemical profile. In social insects, colony survival depends not only on species-specific but also on colony-specific cuticular compounds with hydrocarbons playing an important role in the communication systems of ants, termites, wasps and bees. We investigated inter- and intraspecific differences in the composition of compounds found on the body surface of seven paleotropical stingless bee species (Apidae: Meliponini) at two different sites in Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia). Besides hydrocarbons, the body surface of all seven stingless bee species comprised terpenoid compounds, a substance class that has not been reported for chemical profiles of any social insect so far. Moreover, the chemical profile of some species differed fundamentally in the composition of terpenoids with one group (e.g. sesquiterpenes) being present in one species, but missing in another. Chemical profiles of different colonies from the same species showed the same hydrocarbon- and terpenoid compounds over different regions, as tested for Tetragonilla collina and Tetragonula melanocephala. However, chemical profiles differed quantitatively between the different colonies especially in T. melanocephala. It is likely that the terpenoids are derived from plant resins because stingless bees are known to collect and use large amounts of resins for nest construction and defence, suggesting an environmental origin of the terpenoids in the chemical profile of paleotropical stingless bees.
Original languageEnglish
JournalInsectes Sociaux
Volume56
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)157-170
Number of pages14
ISSN0020-1812
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 07.2009

Recently viewed

Activities

  1. Internationale Tagung Wirtschaftsinformatik - WI 2020
  2. The Century of Play: Keynote Lecture
  3. Internal Auditing for better Corporate Governance. An empirical study of the organization of internal auditing
  4. DFG-Kolleg-Forschergruppe MECS (Medienkulturen der Computersimulation) (Organisation)
  5. Leuphana Universität Lüneburg (Organisation)
  6. University-industry collaboration to stimulate learning in the context of sustainability-oriented innovations
  7. Journal of Applied Ecology (Zeitschrift)
  8. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht Verlag (Verlag)
  9. Research and Teaching in the Field of Music and Auditory Culture from a Cultural Sciences Perspective
  10. Friction hysteresis compensation using phase correction of periodic trajectories
  11. ,,English Day'' an der Oberschule Jesteburg - 2020
  12. Place and placing in the Emergence of Start-ups and Start-up Culture: A dialectical Approach
  13. The Mediation of Business - 2013
  14. Fakultät Management und Technologie (Organisation)
  15. Grenzarbeit: Identität und Identifizierungsprozesse verstehen und verändern.
  16. Vom Nutzen enger Kanäle – Diskursverknappung als Methode - 2011
  17. From International Goodwill to Transnational Policy: The Demise of Trademark Property in Conflicts Doctrine
  18. Translating for children : what, for whom, how, and why.
  19. Technifizierte Theologie. Von der Muttergottes bis zu Wall-E
  20. Ringvorlesung "Maple Leaf & Stars and Stripes" WiSe 2011/2012
  21. Congress of Applied Psychology - IAAP 2006
  22. Lehrerfortbildung 2013
  23. »art can lick my juicy ass ... my form is myself«