Cuticular hydrocarbons in two parapatric species of ants and their hybrid |
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| Authors: | Mohamed EL‐SHEHABY Mohamed Sayed SALAMA Elisabeth BRUNNER Jürgen HEINZE |
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| Institution: | 1. Biologie I, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany;2. Department of Entomology, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt |
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| Abstract: | Discrimination between nestmates and non‐nestmates in social insects is thought to rely on the pattern of cuticular hydrocarbons. We investigated the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of 2 parapatric sibling ant species, Temnothorax nylanderi (Förster, 1850) and Temnothorax crassispinus (Karavaiev, 1926), and their hybrid. We found that although the profiles show considerable similarities, a discriminant analysis based on the relative peak areas of cuticular hydrocarbons separates the 3 taxa. The profiles of hybrids were not consistently intermediate between those of the paternal species, suggesting either non‐additive interactions among the parental biosynthetic pathways or systematic differences in environment‐derived odor cues. |
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| Keywords: | colony odor cuticular hydrocarbons hybridization Temnothorax |
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