Source of alate excitant pheromones in the red imported fire antSolenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

@article{Alonso1997SourceOA,
  title={Source of alate excitant pheromones in the red imported fire antSolenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)},
  author={Leeanne E. Alonso and Robert K. vander Meer},
  journal={Journal of Insect Behavior},
  year={1997},
  volume={10},
  pages={541-555}
}
At the onset of mating flights inSolenopsis invicta, workers swarm excitedly over the mound as alates prepare to fly. Previous studies demonstrated that this excitement is stimulated by the male and female alates. We investigated the glandular source(s) of pheromones produced by the alates that cause excitement. The only common female and male alate body part that elicited excitement when crushed was the head. Within the head, excised mandibular glands were found to be responsible for worker… 
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19 Citations

19 Citations

Multiple functions of fire ant Solenopsis invicta mandibular gland products

The results of the present study indicate that male and female sexuals use mandibular gland secretions for mating flight initiation and during mating flights, suggesting new roles for mandIBular gland products in fire ants.

Mating Flight Activity as Dealation Factors for Red Imported Fire Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Female Alates

It is suggested that precosene treatment affects the corpora allata (CA), but CA products other than juvenile hormone (JH) or in combination with JH are responsible for rapid dealation after mating.

THE EFFECT OF AGE AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT ON DEALATION IN SOLENOPSIS INVICTA (HYMENOPTERA:FORMICIDAE) FEMALE ALATES

Investigating whether maturity influences the time at which female alates shed their wings indicated that dealation rates were not different for newly-eclosed (sexually immature) or sexually mature alates, and dealation in the context of the colony and after mating flights appears to occur via separate mechanisms.

THE EFFECT OF AGE AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT ON DEALATION IN SOLENOPSIS INVICTA (HYMENOPTERA:FORMICIDAE) FEMALE

This work investigated whether maturity influences the time at which female alates shed their wings, and found that dealation in the context of the colony and after mating flights appears to occur via separate mech- anisms.

Behavioral and Electroantennogram Responses of Phorid fly Pseudacteon tricuspis (Diptera: Phoridae) to Red Imported Fire Ant Solenopsis invicta Odor and Trail Pheromone

It is suggested thatFire ant thorax is likely the source of kairomones used as host location cues by P. tricuspis, and the hypothesis that fire ant worker trail pheromones are not likely used by the phorid fly is supported.

Evidence for sex pheromones and inbreeding avoidance in select North American yellowjacket species

The absence of sex attraction responses for V. squamosa in this study does not rule out pheromone‐mediated sexual communication, but highlights the possibility that pheromonal signaling may be dependent on the presence of appropriate contextual cues.

The Reproductive Biology of Fire Ant Societies Fire ant females have many and varied reproductive options

T he fire ants are a group of about twenty New World species belonging to the genus and subgenus Solenopsis (Trager 1991). Two species, Solenopsis richteri and Solenopsis invicta, were accidentally…

Isolation of a Pyrazine Alarm Pheromone Component from the Fire Ant, Solenopsis invicta

This is the first report of 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine from a Solenopsis species and the first example of this alkaloid functioning as an alarm pheromone.

Phorid fly, Pseudacteon tricuspis, response to alkylpyrazine analogs of a fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, alarm pheromone.

Functional morphology of the mandibular gland of queens of the ant Monomorium pharaonis (L.)

It is hypothesized that the glandular secretion serves to stimulate workers to remove the queens’ pupal skin, which suggests that the mandibular gland may indeed play a role in the social facilitation of hatching, although bioassays are required to give decisive answers about the mandIBular gland’s function.

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