Ant dependency can be very crowded spaces that ask elaborated forms of cooperation . While some are nursing , others are collecting nutrient and protect the nest . And then there are unknown and intruder . investigator essay to read how individuals place fellow extremity of their dependency have discovered that there ’s a distinct ant organic structure odour that separate family and friends from foeman . The finding are published inCell Reportsthis week .
Among insects , ants have evolve some of the largest families of odorant receptor cistron . With more than 400 of these genes , they have a gamy - definition sense of flavor . But how they use this olfactive detection of pheromones to recognize others in dissimilar caste or colonies is n’t well understood .
So , a squad led byAnandasankar Ray from the University of California , Riverside , investigate the neurons in the antennae of femaleCamponotus floridanusworker ants in lab colonies collected from Florida ’s retentive Key and Sugar Loaf Key . They focused on the ant ’ reaction to chemicals on the outer shell ( call cuticles ) of others . low-toned volatility hydrocarbon chemical , in particular , are thought to be pheromone cues ; anything more volatile might drown the olfactory organisation by forever activating it . “ What we wanted to read was how ants detect advanced pheromone which form their behaviour efficiently into colony , and help recognize individual from different castes , the tabby , and non - nestmate intruders , ” Ray says in astatement .
The team was surprised to find that , not only is the presence of hydrocarbons detected sensitively by the pismire ' specialised antennary detector , but they can even discriminate between hydrocarbon that are only very slightly different . " This broad - spectrum ability to notice hydrocarbons by the ant antenna is unusual,”Ray says , “ and likely a limited belongings of societal worm . ” Each ant shield contains a mix of several hydrocarbons , and the specific blend acts as a chemical barcode to help ants recognize various castes within their nest as well interloper . " This is a remarkable evolutionary resolution for ' social networking ' in with child colonies,“he tote up .
