Pheromonal modulation of behavior in ants

ROXANA JOSENS

VIRTUAL

Congreso; THE 6TH CONGRESS OF THE LATIN AMERICAN ASSOCIATION CHEMICAL ECOLOGY - VI ALAEQ2021; 2021

LATIN AMERICAN ASSOCIATION CHEMICAL ECOLOGY

Invitada al Simposio: Insights in insect communication and orientationConsidering the operational definition, pheromones typically elicit stereotyped and innate responses. In recent years, many studies on social insects, instead of focusing on the immediate and specific known response, have studied different behavioral responses that were found to be modulated by pheromones even when the pheromones are not present. As social insects, ants make extensive use of pheromones in a wide spectrum of behavioral contexts. For example, trail pheromones, typically involved in recruitment to a resource, trigger nest leaving and path following in recruited ants.Our goal was to study the modulation of behavior in ants after being exposed to the trail pheromone in two species of ants: the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) and the carpenter ant (Camponotus mus). We wonder if trail pheromones can affect resource assessment, olfactory memories, and attention to sensorial cues for orientation. Taking into account that several species of ants are considered pests or are high-impact invasive species, the use of pheromones as disruptors of recruitment activity has been proposed as a highly specific and environmentally friendly control strategy. Therefore, studying the possible collateral effects that enhance or decrease control effectiveness could be relevant for the implementation of this strategy.