ArticleJournal of chemical ecology2022
Characterization of Queen Supergene Pheromone in the Red Imported Fire Ant Using Worker Discrimination Assays.
Article in Journal of chemical ecology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Developmental bias of body size and caste by the fire ant social supergene.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2026Article
- Pheromone-Mediated Social Organization and Pest Management of the Red Imported Fire Ant,Insects · 2026Review
- Plant derived biopesticides for controlling imported fire ants (Frontiers in plant science · 2026Review
- The Fire Ant Social Chromosome Exerts a Major Influence on Genome Regulation.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Conversion of social organization in fire ants induced by few colony members: Unmasking indirect genetic effects.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Biased social chromosome transmission in males of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
- A supergene in seaweed flies modulates male traits and female perception.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Ants use chemical signals to communicate for various purposes related to colony function. Social organization in the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, is determined by the Sb supergene, with colonies of the monogyne (single-queen) form lacking the element and colonies of the polygyne (multiple-queen) form possessing it. Polygyne workers accept new reproductive queens in their nest, but only those carrying Sb; young winged queens lacking this genetic element are executed as they mature sexually in their natal nest or as they attempt to enter a foreign nest to initiate reproduction after mating and shedding their wings. It has been suggested that queen supergene genotype status is signaled to workers by unsaturated cuticular hydrocarbons, while queen reproductive status is signaled by piperidines (venom alkaloids). We used high-throughput behavioral assays to study worker acceptance of paper dummies dosed with fractions of extracts of polygyne queens, or blends of synthetic counterparts of queen cuticular compounds. We show that the queen supergene pheromone comprises a blend of monoene and diene unsaturated hydrocarbons. Our assays also reveal that unsaturated hydrocarbons elicit discrimination by polygyne workers only when associated with additional compounds that signal queen fertility. This synergistic effect was obtained with a polar fraction of queen extracts, but not by the piperidine alkaloids, suggesting that the chemical(s) indicating queen reproductive status are compounds more polar than cuticular hydrocarbons but are not the piperidine alkaloids. Our results advance understanding of the role of chemical signaling that is central to the regulation of social organization in an important invasive pest and model ant species.
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