Honeybees, chemical communication

The repertoire of chemicals that can be used for communication is limited by the biosynthetic ability of the insect. Compared to other insect orders, pheromone biosynthesis in Hymenoptera has received little study [191]. However, the biosynthetic origins of chemically diverse hymenopteran semiochemicals likely include aromatic, fatty acid, and terpenoid pathways as well as simple modifications of host-derived precursors. Notable recent studies include the biosynthesis of the fatty acid components (2 )-9-oxodec-2-enoic acid 52 and (2 )-9-hydroxydec-2-enoic acid of the honeybee queen mandibular pheromone from octadecanoic acid [192,193], and the aliphatic alcohol and ester... 

It is well known that animals communicate by releasing chemicals that others of the same species receive and "understand." For example, ants use chemicals to signal news about food supplies and danger from predators, and honeybees "recognize" other bees from the same hive by their chemical signals. Now scientists at Yale University have shown that tadpoles send chemical signals to one another. 

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