| Full text | |
| Author(s): |
da Silva, Rafael Carvalho
[1]
;
Van Meerbeeck, Lize
[2]
;
do Nascimento, Fabio Santos
[1]
;
Wenseleers, Tom
[2]
;
Oi, Cintia Akemi
[2]
Total Authors: 5
|
| Affiliation: | [1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Dept Biol, Ave Bandeirantes, 3900 Vila Monte Alegre, BR-14040900 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil
[2] Univ Leuven, Lab Socioecol & Social Evolut, KU Leuven, Leuven - Belgium
Total Affiliations: 2
|
| Document type: | Journal article |
| Source: | NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN; v. 108, n. 3 JUN 2021. |
| Web of Science Citations: | 1 |
| Abstract | |
Sexual pheromones are chemical molecules responsible for mediating sex recognition and mating events. Long- and close-range sexual pheromones act differently. The first type is released to attract potential partners, whereas the second coordinates the interactions after potential mating partners encounter each other. Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) have been suggested to be important cues in the mating systems of several Hymenoptera species, although empirical data are still lacking for many species. Here, we evaluated whether males of the model species Polistes dominula can differentiate the sex of individuals based on their CHC composition. In August 2019, several post-worker emergent nests (n = 19) were collected in the vicinity of Leuven (Belgium) and taken to the lab (KU Leuven), where newly emerged females and males were sampled, marked individually, and kept in plastic boxes for at least a week before being used in the mating trials. Focal males were paired with females and males from different nests and subjected to five different conditions: (I) alive, (II) dead, (III) CHCs washed, (IV) CHCs partially returned, and (V) CHCs from the opposite sex. We videotaped the interactions for 10 min and analysed the duration and different behavioural interactions of the focal male. Our results indicate that CHCs may be used by males as cues to recognise a potential mating partner in P. dominula, since the focal males displayed specific courtship behaviours exclusively toward females. Although we cannot exclude that visual cues could also be used in combination with the chemical ones, we empirically demonstrate that CHCs may be important to convey sexual information at close range in mating systems, allowing fast decisions toward potential sexual partners or rivals. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 18/22461-3 - Searching for the missing link: the eggs act as an alternative vehicle of communication in social systems? |
| Grantee: | Rafael Carvalho da Silva |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |
| FAPESP's process: | 18/10996-0 - An Evo-Devo perspective on reproductive division of labour in wasps |
| Grantee: | Fábio Santos do Nascimento |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |