Apis mellifera cuticular hydrocarbon analysis according to food source profitability: linking released compounds with communication.

MARÍA SOL BALBUENA; ANDRÉS GONZÁLEZ; WALTER M FARINA

Huerta Grande, Córoba

Congreso; 2nd Meeting of the Latin American Association of Chemical Ecology (ALAEQ); 2012

ALAEQ

When a honeybee (Apis mellifera) collects nectar with high sucrose concentration from a flower, she returns to the hive and dances vigorously, raising her corporal temperature. This display promotes the release of certain cuticular hydrocarbons which have been postulated as a relevant stimulus for the inactive foragers inside the hive to start foraging. Our study consisted of identification, comparison and quantification of the cuticular hydrocarbons released by honeybees while collecting at a low or high profit food source (0.5M or 2M sucrose concentration). We used artificial feeders where honeybees were trained and captured. The honeybees were killed using CO2. Cuticular hydrocarbons were extracted by immersing the honeybees in dichloromethane. Samples were analyzed using a CG-MS. We found differences in cuticular hydrocarbons between honeybees captured directly from the hive and those that had collected sucrose solution. Moreover, honeybees that collected high profit food sources showed different profiles from those in contact with 0.5M sucrose solution.. We propose that the presence of these cuticular hydrocarbons could be relevant in the recruitment context. The differences found according to food source profitability suggest that there could be a modulation in the release of chemical cues associated to a differential recruitment.