Chemical and behavioral studies on dufour gland contents of Manica rubida (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The Dufour gland of Manica rubida contains a simple mixture of (Z, E)-α-farnesene and (Z, E)-α-homofarnesene with tiny amounts of other faraesene, homofarnesene, and bishomofarnesene isomers. The gland also contains a mixture of very volatile compounds, chiefly acetone, with smaller amounts of acetaldehyde, ethanol, propanol, isobutyraldehyde, butenone, and butanone. The workers of M. rubida are not attracted to these highly volatile compounds as are workers of Myrmica species, but M. rubida workers show a strong increase of linear speed when stimulated by a freshly isolated gland. This response of increased speed of both M. rubida and M. trubra to their own or each other's Dufour gland secretion is consistent with the presence of the farnesenes in them both.