Identification of trail pheromone of the ant Tetramorium caespitum L. (Hymenoptera: Myrmicinae)

Athula B. Attygalle, E. David Morgan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

The trail pheromone of the ant Tetramorium caespitum L. is a 70:30 mixture of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine and 3-ethyl-2, 5-dimethylpyrazine. The average total amount of the two pyrazines present in the poison vesicle was found to be 3.9 ng per ant, of which 2.7 ± 0.4 ng is 2,5-dimethylpyrazine and 1.15 ±0.25 ng is 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine. The pyrazines constitute only 0.03% of the volume of the poison vesicle but account for the whole of the trail-following activity. A 70:30 mixture of the respective pyrazines evoked the highest activity in artificial trail-following tests.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1453-1468
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Chemical Ecology
Volume10
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1984

Keywords

  • 2,5-dimethylpyrazine
  • Ant
  • Hymenoptera
  • Myrmicinae
  • Tetramorium caespitum
  • poison gland
  • synergism
  • trail pheromone
  • venom

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