Dufour gland secretion in the harvester ant genus Pogonomyrmex

Bert Hölldobler; E. David Morgan; Neil J. Oldham; Jürgen Liebig; Yue Liu

doi:10.1007/s00049-003-0267-8

Dufour gland secretion in the harvester ant genus Pogonomyrmex

Bert Hölldobler, E. David Morgan, Neil J. Oldham, Jürgen Liebig, Yue Liu

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Dufour gland secretions of the harvester ants Pogonomyrmex barbatus, P. rugosus and P. maricopa were investigated. The glandular blends exhibit species specific patterns, but more importantly, based on indiviual profiles of Dufour gland contents of colony members it is possible to separate the colonies from each other in each species. It is possible that these collective colony specific cues serve as longer lasting trunk route markers. Behavioral tests demonstrate that workers of P. rugosus prefer homing routes marked by members of their own colony to routes marked by a foreign conspecific colony.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	101-106
Number of pages	6
Journal	Chemoecology
Volume	14
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-003-0267-8
State	Published - 2004
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Colony specific cues
Communication
Multicomponent signals
Orientation
Trunk routes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Biochemistry

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10.1007/s00049-003-0267-8

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title = "Dufour gland secretion in the harvester ant genus Pogonomyrmex",

abstract = "Dufour gland secretions of the harvester ants Pogonomyrmex barbatus, P. rugosus and P. maricopa were investigated. The glandular blends exhibit species specific patterns, but more importantly, based on indiviual profiles of Dufour gland contents of colony members it is possible to separate the colonies from each other in each species. It is possible that these collective colony specific cues serve as longer lasting trunk route markers. Behavioral tests demonstrate that workers of P. rugosus prefer homing routes marked by members of their own colony to routes marked by a foreign conspecific colony.",

keywords = "Colony specific cues, Communication, Multicomponent signals, Orientation, Trunk routes",

author = "Bert H{\"o}lldobler and Morgan, {E. David} and Oldham, {Neil J.} and J{\"u}rgen Liebig and Yue Liu",

note = "Funding Information: We thank the German Science Foundation (DFG) for financial supports (SFB 554), the Trustees of the Leverhulme Funding Information: Foundation for a Fellowship to E.D.M., the EPSRC for a research studentship to N.J.O., and The European Commission for the funding of the research network “Social Evolution” to the Universities of Aarhus, Firenze, Keele, Sheffield, Uppsala, W{\"u}rzburg and ETH Z{\"u}rich via the TMR programme (contract ERBFMRX-CT960072). We thank Malu Obermayer for dissecting countless glands. We think of the late Hiltrud Engel-Siegel whose indispensable assistance during the behavioral work will always be gratefully remembered.",

year = "2004",

doi = "10.1007/s00049-003-0267-8",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "14",

pages = "101--106",

journal = "Chemoecology",

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publisher = "Birkhauser Verlag Basel",

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AU - Hölldobler, Bert

AU - Morgan, E. David

AU - Oldham, Neil J.

AU - Liebig, Jürgen

AU - Liu, Yue

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the German Science Foundation (DFG) for financial supports (SFB 554), the Trustees of the Leverhulme Funding Information: Foundation for a Fellowship to E.D.M., the EPSRC for a research studentship to N.J.O., and The European Commission for the funding of the research network “Social Evolution” to the Universities of Aarhus, Firenze, Keele, Sheffield, Uppsala, Würzburg and ETH Zürich via the TMR programme (contract ERBFMRX-CT960072). We thank Malu Obermayer for dissecting countless glands. We think of the late Hiltrud Engel-Siegel whose indispensable assistance during the behavioral work will always be gratefully remembered.

PY - 2004

Y1 - 2004

N2 - Dufour gland secretions of the harvester ants Pogonomyrmex barbatus, P. rugosus and P. maricopa were investigated. The glandular blends exhibit species specific patterns, but more importantly, based on indiviual profiles of Dufour gland contents of colony members it is possible to separate the colonies from each other in each species. It is possible that these collective colony specific cues serve as longer lasting trunk route markers. Behavioral tests demonstrate that workers of P. rugosus prefer homing routes marked by members of their own colony to routes marked by a foreign conspecific colony.

AB - Dufour gland secretions of the harvester ants Pogonomyrmex barbatus, P. rugosus and P. maricopa were investigated. The glandular blends exhibit species specific patterns, but more importantly, based on indiviual profiles of Dufour gland contents of colony members it is possible to separate the colonies from each other in each species. It is possible that these collective colony specific cues serve as longer lasting trunk route markers. Behavioral tests demonstrate that workers of P. rugosus prefer homing routes marked by members of their own colony to routes marked by a foreign conspecific colony.

KW - Colony specific cues

KW - Communication

KW - Multicomponent signals

KW - Orientation

KW - Trunk routes

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Dufour gland secretion in the harvester ant genus Pogonomyrmex

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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