Terpenoids tame aggressors: role of chemicals in stingless bee communal nesting
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In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Vol. 64, No. 9, 09.2010, p. 1415-1423.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Terpenoids tame aggressors
T2 - role of chemicals in stingless bee communal nesting
AU - Leonhardt, Sara
AU - Jung, Linda-Maria
AU - Schmitt, Thomas
AU - Blüthgen, Nico
PY - 2010/9
Y1 - 2010/9
N2 - Social insects aggressively defend their nest and surrounding against non-nestmates, which they recognize by an unfamiliar profile of aliphatic hydrocarbons on the cuticle. Prominent exceptions are communal nest aggregations of stingless bees. Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are also unique in possessing cuticular terpenes which are derived from tree resins and have not yet been reported for any other insect. We showed experimentally that sesquiterpenes from the body surface of the communal nesting bee Tetragonilla collina reduced aggression in otherwise aggressive bees which did not have sesquiterpenes themselves. In the field, bee species nesting in aggregations with T. collina often lack sesquiterpenes in their own cuticular profiles. These species show little aggression towards T. collina, whereas it can be heavily attacked by non-aggregated species that also possess cuticular sesquiterpenes. We conclude that appeasement by sesquiterpenes represents a novel mechanism to achieve interspecific tolerance in social insects.
AB - Social insects aggressively defend their nest and surrounding against non-nestmates, which they recognize by an unfamiliar profile of aliphatic hydrocarbons on the cuticle. Prominent exceptions are communal nest aggregations of stingless bees. Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are also unique in possessing cuticular terpenes which are derived from tree resins and have not yet been reported for any other insect. We showed experimentally that sesquiterpenes from the body surface of the communal nesting bee Tetragonilla collina reduced aggression in otherwise aggressive bees which did not have sesquiterpenes themselves. In the field, bee species nesting in aggregations with T. collina often lack sesquiterpenes in their own cuticular profiles. These species show little aggression towards T. collina, whereas it can be heavily attacked by non-aggregated species that also possess cuticular sesquiterpenes. We conclude that appeasement by sesquiterpenes represents a novel mechanism to achieve interspecific tolerance in social insects.
KW - Ecosystems Research
KW - Stingless bees
KW - Communal nesting
KW - Chemical profile
KW - Terpenes
KW - Aggression
KW - Meliponini
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955647924&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/44f9b229-979d-3bbd-aa7c-ebd349c24d02/
U2 - 10.1007/s00265-010-0956-6
DO - 10.1007/s00265-010-0956-6
M3 - Journal articles
VL - 64
SP - 1415
EP - 1423
JO - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
JF - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
SN - 0340-5443
IS - 9
ER -