Eur. J. Entomol. 103 (3): 553-558, 2006 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2006.075

Preferences and differences in the trail pheromone of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens sexdens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

E. David MORGAN1, Sarah J. KEEGANS1, Jozef TITS2, Tom WENSELEERS2, Johan BILLEN2
1 Chemical Ecology Group, Lennard-Jones Laboratory, Keele University, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, UK; e-mail: e.d.morgan@chem.keele.ac.uk
2 Zoological Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium; e-mails: tom.wenseleers@bio.kuleuven.be, johan.billen@bio.kuleuven.be

The amount of the trail pheromone substance, 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine, of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens sexdens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) increases with increasing size of the ant from 0 to 35 ng per individual. The compounds 2,5-dimethylpyrazine and trimethylpyrazine are also consistently present. Trails of venom gland extracts are followed with unequal fidelity by different castes. Minor workers follow best, mediums least well. Workers walk sinuously on narrow trails and less sinuously on wider trails up to 9 mm. Trails wider than 9 mm are not followed. The optimum concentration of pheromone on synthetic trails lies between 15 and 150 pg cm-1. Given a choice of concentrations at a trail branch, workers always choose the more concentrated. Workers showed slight preference for a trail made with venom gland secretion from their own, over that from an alien colony, but there is no preference for a trail that contains Dufour gland secretion additionally.

Keywords: Formicidae, trail pheromone, caste differences, pheromone concentration, trail width, colony specificity, venom gland, Dufour gland, Atta sexdens sexdens

Received: October 13, 2005; Revised: January 24, 2006; Accepted: January 24, 2006; Published: July 3, 2006  Show citation

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David MORGAN, E., KEEGANS, S.J., TITS, J., WENSELEERS, T., & BILLEN, J. (2006). Preferences and differences in the trail pheromone of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens sexdens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). EJE, 103(3), 553-558. doi: 10.14411/eje.2006.075
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