Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36759430›Full record

ArticleJournal of chemical ecology2023

The Alarm Pheromone and Alarm Response of the Clonal Raider Ant.

Lindsey E Lopes, Erik T Frank, Zsolt Kárpáti, Thomas Schmitt, Daniel J C Kronauer

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of chemical ecology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Recalibrating Olfactory Neuroscience to the Range of Naturally Occurring Odor Concentrations.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Pheromone representation in the ant antennal lobe changes with age.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024
    Article
  5. 2-Methoxybenzaldehyde effectively repels ants.Journal of economic entomology · 2024
    Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Lindsey E LopesLaboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10065, USA. llopes@rockefeller.edu.
Erik T FrankBiocentre, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, D-97074, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2066-3202
Zsolt KárpátiBiocentre, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, D-97074, Würzburg, Germany.
Thomas SchmittBiocentre, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, D-97074, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6719-8635
Daniel J C KronauerLaboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10065, USA. dkronauer@rockefeller.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4103-7729

Funding

The Molecular Underpinnings of Complex Social BehaviorR35GM127007 · NIGMS · ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY · PI KRONAUER, DANIEL · 2018 to 2022
$2.6M
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Scholar AwardHoward Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam FellowshipNIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM127007NIGMS NIH HHS R35GM127007
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ants communicate via an arsenal of different pheromones produced in a variety of exocrine glands. For example, ants release alarm pheromones in response to danger to alert their nestmates and to trigger behavioral alarm responses. Here we characterize the alarm pheromone and the alarm response of the clonal raider ant Ooceraea biroi, a species that is amenable to laboratory studies but for which no pheromones have been identified. During an alarm response, ants quickly become unsettled, leave their nest pile, and are sometimes initially attracted to the source of alarm, but ultimately move away from it. We find that the alarm pheromone is released from the head of the ant and identify the putative alarm pheromone as a blend of two compounds found in the head, 4-methyl-3-heptanone and 4-methyl-3-heptanol. These compounds are sufficient to induce alarm behavior alone and in combination. They elicit similar, though slightly different behavioral features of the alarm response, with 4-methyl-3-heptanone being immediately repulsive and 4-methyl-3-heptanol being initially attractive before causing ants to move away. The behavioral response to these compounds in combination is dose-dependent, with ants becoming unsettled and attracted to the source of alarm pheromone at low concentrations and repulsed at high concentrations. While 4-methyl-3-heptanone and 4-methyl-3-heptanol are known alarm pheromones in other more distantly related ant species, this is the first report of the chemical identity of a pheromone in O. biroi, and the first alarm pheromone identified in the genus Ooceraea. Identification of a pheromone that triggers a robust, consistent, and conserved behavior, like the alarm pheromone, provides an avenue to dissect the behavioral and neuronal mechanisms underpinning chemical communication.

Indexed as

AntsPheromonesAnimalsHeptanolKetones4-methyl-3-heptanoneHeptanolKetonesPheromones4-methyl-3-heptanol4-methyl-3-heptanoneChemical communicationFormicidaeOoceraea biroiSocial behavior

Identifiers

PMID36759430
PMCPMC9941220

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.