Ant nestmate and non-nestmate discrimination by a chemosensory sensillum.
نویسندگان
چکیده
In animal societies, chemical communication plays an important role in conflict and cooperation. For ants, cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) blends produced by non-nestmates elicit overt aggression. We describe a sensory sensillum on the antennae of the carpenter ant Camponotus japonicus that functions in nestmate discrimination. This sensillum is multiporous and responds only to non-nestmate CHC blends. This suggests a role for a peripheral recognition mechanism in detecting colony-specific chemical signals.
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Science
دوره 309 5732 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2005