ArticleJournal of chemical ecology2002
Hydroquinone: a general phagostimulating pheromone in termites.
Article in Journal of chemical ecology, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 63 citations in OpenAlex.
- Chemical and microbial regulators of foraging behaviors in subterranean termites.Pest management science · 2026Review
- The Trail-Following Communication in Stylotermes faveolus and S. halumicus (Blattodea, Isoptera, Stylotermitidae).Journal of chemical ecology · 2023Article
- Salivary glands in workers of Ruptitermes spp. (Blattaria, Isoptera, Termitidae, Apicotermitinae): a morphological and preoteomic approach.Cell and tissue research · 2021Article
- Chemistry of the Secondary Metabolites of Termites.Progress in the chemistry of organic natural products · 2019Article
- One-pot non-enzymatic formation of firefly luciferin in a neutral buffer from p-benzoquinone and cysteine.Scientific reports · 2016Article
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- Effects of soldier-derived terpenes on soldier caste differentiation in the termite Reticulitermes flavipes.Journal of chemical ecology · 2009Article
- (E,E)-alpha-farnesene, an alarm pheromone of the termite Prorhinotermes canalifrons.Journal of chemical ecology · 2008Article
- Hydroquinone is not a phagostimulant for the Formosan subterranean termite.Journal of chemical ecology · 2005Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The organization of termite societies depends predominantly on intraspecific chemical signals (pheromones) produced by exocrine glands, which induce and modulate individual behavioral responses. Here, the saliva-producing labial glands of termites were investigated with respect to their pheromonal role in communal food exploitation of termite colonies. From these glands, we identified for the first time hydroquinone (1,4-dihydroxybenzene) as a phagostimulating pheromone in the Australian termite species Mastotermes darwiniensis. Hydroquinone is released from the labial glands of termite workers and applied onto the food. It stimulates nestmates to feed at the spot of application and is, thus, employed to mark feeding sites. No synergistic effect with other identified labial gland compounds, such as glucose, inositol, and arbutin, was evident. Significantly, we show that termite species from all over the world, irrespective of taxonomic position and biological traits, produce and employ hydroquinone as phagostimulating signal. The use of the same chemical signal throughout an order is a unique phenomenon, not reported before in animals. Its possible biosynthetic pathway, ecological significance, and evolution are discussed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.