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116 results for “cuticular hydrocarbons”
Effects of genotype and host environment on the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of Lysiphlebus parasitoids and aggression by aphid-tending ants
Parasitoids in the genus Lysiphlebus specialize on ant-tended aphids and have previously been reported to mimic the CHC profiles of their aphid hosts to avoid detection by ants. However, the precise mechanisms that mediate reduced ant aggression toward Lysiphlebus spp. are not known, nor is it clear whether such mechanisms are broadly effective or specialized to particular aphid hosts. Here we explore the effects of wasp genotype and host environment on Lysiphlebus cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles and ant aggression. Rearing asexual Lysiphlebus lines in different host aphid environments revealed effects of both wasp line and aphid host on wasp CHCs. However, variation in genotype and host affected different features of the CHC profile, with wasp genotype explaining most variation in linear and long-chain methyl alkanes, while aphid host environment primarily influenced short-chain methyl alkanes. Subsequent behavioral experiments revealed no effects of host environment on ant aggression, but stronger evidence for genotypic effects. The presence of genotypic variation in experienced ant aggression and relevant chemical traits is particularly relevant in light of recent evidence for genetic divergence among Lysiphlebus parasitoids collected from different aphid hosts.
Effects of genotype and host environment on the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of Lysiphlebus parasitoids and aggression by aphid-tending ants
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Data from: The evolution of sexually dimorphic cuticular hydrocarbons in blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae)Cuticular hydrocarbons of Australian Chrysomya (Diptera: Calliphoridae)
<p>Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are organic compounds found on the cuticles of all insects which can act as close-contact pheromones, while also providing a hydrophobic barrier to water loss. Given their widespread importance in sexual behaviour and survival, CHCs have likely contributed heavily to the adaptation and speciation of insects. Despite this, the patterns and mechanisms of their diversification have been studied in very few taxa. This dataset constitutes the first of CHCs in Australian <em>Chrysomya </em>blowflies. The data demonstrate that blowflies express an exceptional diversity of CHCs, which have diversified in a non-phylogenetic and punctuated manner, are species-specific, and sexually dimorphic. </p>
Data from: Acclimation in ants: Interference of communication and waterproofing through cuticular hydrocarbons in a multifunctional trait
<p>Organismal traits may experience conflicting selection pressures if they fulfil different functions simultaneously. This can require trade-offs between functions or alternatively functional separation between elements of the trait.</p> <p>An important multifunctional trait in insects is the cuticular hydrocarbon (CHCs) layer. CHCs cover the body of nearly all insects, protect against desiccation and serve as a communication signal. In social insects like ants, they provide cues for nestmate recognition. To maintain their waterproofing function, insects have to adjust CHC composition to current temperatures. These changes might affect information content and interfere with communication, which would be especially detrimental in social insects.</p> <p>Here, we studied how acclimation affects nestmate recognition in two sister species of the ant genus <em>Lasius</em>. Colony fragments were exposed to three climate regimes. We analysed behaviour towards same and differently acclimated conspecifics, and determined which CHCs were related to acclimatory changes, colony differences, and inter-individual aggression.</p> <p>Differential acclimation led to higher aggression and chemical distances among former nestmates. We identified small CHC subsets, which only differed among colonies or among acclimation treatments. Moreover, few compounds sufficed to explain inter-individual aggression, suggesting that ants do not use the entire CHC profile for nestmate recognition and that colony identity is encoded in a redundant way.</p> <p>Across individual CHCs, their contribution to colony differences and to differences among acclimatory treatments was negatively correlated, indicating that there is some degree of functional separation. However, CHC classes could not be clearly assigned to one or another function, indicating that the role of each CHC is idiosyncratic and may differ among species. Acclimatory effects and colony differences were more independent from each other in <em>L. platythorax </em>than in <em>L. niger</em>, indicating that functional separation can differ even among sister species.</p> <p>Our results show that CHC functions are more intertwined than previously assumed, suggesting that insects cannot optimise all functions independently. The main constraint might be the need to maintain a certain phase behaviour of the CHC layer, which depends on CHC composition and affects functionality. The need to separate functions might depend on species-specific ecological and life-history parameters.</p>
Data from: Why do ants differ in acclimatory ability? Biophysical mechanisms behind cuticular hydrocarbon acclimation across species
Maintaining water balance is vital for terrestrial organisms. Insects protect themselves against desiccation via cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). CHC layers are complex mixtures of solid and liquid hydrocarbons, with a surprisingly diverse composition across species. This variation may translate to differential phase behaviour, and hence varying waterproofing capacity. This is especially relevant when temperatures change, which requires acclimatory CHC changes to maintain waterproofing. Nevertheless, the physical consequences of CHC variation are still little understood. We studied acclimatory responses and their consequences for CHC composition, phase behaviour, and drought survival in three congeneric ant species. Colony fragments were kept under cool, warm, and fluctuating temperature regimes. Lasius niger and platythorax, both of which are rich in methyl-branched alkanes, showed largely predictable acclimatory changes of the CHC profile. In both species, warm acclimation increased drought resistance. Warm acclimation increased the proportion of solid compounds in L. niger but not in L. platythorax. In both species, the CHC layer formed a liquid matrix of constantly low viscosity, which contained highly viscous and solid parts. This phase heterogeneity may be adaptive, increasing robustness to temperature fluctuations. In L. brunneus, which is rich in unsaturated hydrocarbons, acclimatory CHC changes were less predictable, and warm acclimation did not enhance drought survival. The CHC layer was more homogenous, but matrix viscosity changed with acclimation. We showed that ant species use different physical mechanisms to enhance waterproofing during acclimation. Hence, the ability to acclimate, and thus climatic niche breadth, may strongly depend on species-specific CHC profile.
Figure 3 in Deciphering the chemical phenotype in Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): A relationship between polymorphism and cuticular hydrocarbons
Figure 3. Similarity dendrogram based on the similarities and dissimilarities of the cuticular chemical compositions of the subcastes of the ant Atta laevigata based on the data obtained by CG-MS.Cophenetic Correlation Coefficient = 0.76.
Figure 1 in Deciphering the chemical phenotype in Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): A relationship between polymorphism and cuticular hydrocarbons
Figure 1. Percentage abundance (a) and Number of peaks (b) grouped in the different classes of cuticular hydrocarbons of subcastes of workers of Atta laevigata.
Environmental decomposition of olefinic cuticular hydrocarbons of Periplaneta americana generates a volatile pheromone that guides social behaviour
<p>Once emitted, semiochemicals are exposed to reactive environmental factors that may alter them, thus disrupting chemical communication. Some species, however, might have adapted to detect environmentally mediated breakdown products of their natural chemicals as semiochemicals. We demonstrate that air, water vapour and ultraviolet (UV) radiation break down unsaturated cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) of Periplaneta americana (American cockroach), resulting in the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In behavioural assays, nymphs strongly avoided aggregating in shelters exposed to the breakdown VOCs from cuticular alkenes. The three treatments (air, water<br> vapour, UV) produced the same VOCs, but at different time-courses and ratios. Fourteen VOCs from UV-exposed CHCs elicited electrophysiological responses in nymph antennae; 10 were identified as 2-nonanone, 1-pentanol, 1-octanol, 1-nonanol, tetradecanal, acetic acid, propanoic acid, butanoic acid, pentanoic acid and hexanoic acid. When short-chain fatty acids were tested as a mix and a blend of the alcohols and aldehyde was tested as a second mix, nymphs exhibited no preference for control or treated shelters. However, nymphs avoided shelters that were exposed to VOCs from the complete 10-compound mix. Conditioned shelters (occupied by cockroaches with faeces and CHCs deposited on the shelters), which are normally highly attractive to nymphs, were also avoided after UV exposure, confirming that breakdown products from deposited metabolites, including CHCs,mediate this behaviour. Our results demonstrate that common environmental agents degrade CHCs into behaviourally active volatile compounds that potentially may serve as necromones or epideictic pheromones, mediating group dissolution.</p>
A shift to shorter cuticular hydrocarbons accompanies sexual isolation among Drosophila americana group populations
<p>Because sensory signals often evolve rapidly, they could be instrumental in the emergence of reproductive isolation between species. However, pinpointing their specific contribution to isolating barriers, and the mechanisms underlying their divergence, remains challenging. Here we demonstrate sexual isolation due to divergence in chemical signals between two populations of <i>Drosophila americana</i> (SC and NE) and one population of <i>D. novamexicana</i>, and dissect its underlying phenotypic and genetic mechanisms. Mating trials revealed strong sexual isolation between <i>Drosophila novamexicana</i> males and SC <i>Drosophila americana</i> females, as well as more moderate bi-directional isolation between <i>D. americana</i> populations. Mating behavior data indicates SC <i>D. americana</i> males have the highest courtship efficiency and, unlike males of the other populations, are accepted by females of all species. Quantification of cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles—chemosensory signals that are used for species recognition and mate finding in <i>Drosophila</i>—shows that the SC <i>D. americana</i> population differs from the other populations primarily on the basis of compound carbon chain-length. Moreover, manipulation of male CHC composition via heterospecific perfuming—specifically perfuming <i>D. novamexicana</i> males with SC <i>D. americana</i> males—abolishes their sexual isolation from these <i>D. americana</i> females. Of a set of candidates, a single gene—elongase CG17821—had patterns of gene expression consistent with a role in CHC differences between species. Sequence comparisons indicate <i>D. novamexicana</i> and our Nebraska (NE) <i>D. americana</i> population share a derived CG17821 truncation mutation that could also contribute to their shared "short" CHC phenotype. Together, these data suggest an evolutionary model for the origin and spread of this allele and its consequences for CHC divergence and sexual isolation in this group.</p>
119 chromatograms (GC-FID) of the cuticular hydrocarbons of four Polistes paper wasp species (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae)
<p><span>This dataset includes gas chromatography coupled flame ionization detection (GC-FID) data containing cuticular hydrocarbon peaks sampled by whole body hexane washes of female and male adult paper wasps: <em>Polistes dominula</em> (22 female, 3 male), <em>Polistes exclamans</em> (14 female, 24 male), <em>Polistes fuscatus</em> (22 female, 18 male), <em>Polistes metricus</em> (10 female, 6 male).</span></p> <p><span></span></p>
Beauty or function? The opposing effects of natural and sexual selection on cuticular hydrocarbons in male black field crickets
<p>Although many theoretical models of male sexual trait evolution assume that sexual selection is countered by natural selection, direct empirical tests of this assumption are relatively uncommon. Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are known to play an important role in restricting evaporative water loss but also in sexual signalling in most terrestrial arthropods. Insects adjusting their CHC layer for optimal desiccation resistance is often thought to come at the expense of successful sexual attraction suggesting that natural and sexual selection are in opposition for this trait. In this study, we sampled the CHCs of male black field crickets (<em>Teleogryllus</em> <em>commodus</em>) using solid-phase microextraction and then either measured their evaporative water loss or mating success. We then used multivariate selection analysis to quantify the strength and form of natural and sexual selection targeting male CHCs. Both natural and sexual selection imposed significant linear and stabilizing selection on male CHCs, although for very different combinations. Natural selection largely favoured an increase in the total abundance of CHCs, especially those with a longer chain length. In contrast, mating success peaked at a lower total abundance of CHCs and declined as CHC abundance increased. However, mating success did improve with an increase in a number of specific CHC components that also increased evaporative water loss. Importantly, this resulted in the combination of male CHCs favoured by natural selection and sexual selection being strongly opposing. Our findings suggest that the balance between natural and sexual selection is likely to play an important role in the evolution of male CHCs in <em>T. commodus</em> and may help explain why CHCs are so divergent across populations and species.</p>
Supplementary materials for: Striking cuticular hydrocarbon dimorphism in the mason wasp Odynerus spinipes and its possible evolutionary cause (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae, Vespidae)
<p>Cleptoparasitic wasps and bees smuggle their eggs into the nest of a host organism. Here the larvae of the cleptoparasite feed upon the food provision intended for the offspring of the host. As cleptoparasitism incurs a loss of fitness for the host organism (offspring of the host fail to develop), hosts of cleptoparasites are expected to exploit cues that alert them to potential cleptoparasite infestation. Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) could serve as such cues, as insects inevitably leave traces of them behind when entering a nest. By mimicking the host's CHC profile, cleptoparasites can conceal their presence and evade detection by their host. Previous studies have provided evidence of cleptoparasites mimicking their host's CHC profile. However, the impact of this strategy on the evolution of the host's CHC profile has remained unexplored. Here, we present results from our investigation of a host-cleptoparasite system consisting of a single mason wasp species that serves syntopically as the host to three cuckoo wasp species. We found that the spiny mason wasp (<em>Odynerus spinipes</em>) is able to express two substantially different CHC profiles, each of which is seemingly mimicked by a cleptoparasitic cuckoo wasp (i.e. <em>Chrysis mediata</em> and <em>Pseudospinolia neglecta</em>). The CHC profile of the third cuckoo wasp (<em>Chrysis viridula</em>), a species not expected to benefit from mimicking its host's CHC profile because of its particular oviposition strategy, differs from the two CHC profiles of its host. Our results corroborate the idea that the similarity of the CHC profiles between cleptoparasitic cuckoo wasps and their hosts is the result of chemical mimicry. They further suggest that cleptoparasites may represent a hitherto unappreciated force that drives the evolution of their hosts' CHCs.</p>
Whiptail lizards (Aspidoscelis exsanguis) recognize invertebrate prey via cuticular hydrocarbons
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Beauty or function? The opposing effects of natural and sexual selection on cuticular hydrocarbons in male black field crickets
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Data from: Nutritional geometry provides insight into the dual roles of natural and sexual selection in insect cuticular hydrocarbon evolution
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Cuticular hydrocarbons of pupae in the ant Formica exsecta
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The significance of genetic distance and nest occupation on the worker-worker similarity of gut bacterial microbiome and cuticular hydrocarbon profile in a sweat bee
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The transfer of male cuticular hydrocarbons provides a reliable cue of the risk and intensity of sperm competition in decorated crickets
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Supplementary materials for: Striking cuticular hydrocarbon dimorphism in the mason wasp Odynerus spinipes and its possible evolutionary cause (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae, Vespidae)
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Data from: The evolution of sexually dimorphic cuticular hydrocarbons in blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae)Cuticular hydrocarbons of Australian Chrysomya (Diptera: Calliphoridae)
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