Territorial pheromone

All of the suborder Symphyta and many species in the superfamily Aculeata in the suborder Apocrita are solitary insects. Although not requiring the complex semiochemistry of parasitic or social insects, solitary insects employ pheromones for mating, territorial marking, and host marking. Unfortunately, very few of these have been chemically identified. The pheromones of sawflies and seed wasps were extensively reviewed in 1999 [ 14]. The semiochemicals recently identified in solitary hymenoptera, discussed below, are summarized in Table 2 and Fig. 1. 

Wyatt, T.D. (2003) Pheromones and Animal Behaviour. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Yahr, P. (1983) Hormonal influences on territorial marking behavior. In B.B. Svare (Ed.), Hormones and Aggressive Behavior, New York, pp. 145-175. 

Keywords Mammalian semiochemicals Mammalian pheromones Mammalian exocrine secretions Chemical communication Territorial marking... 

Changing the diet of a fish may change the behavior of conspecifics it interacts with subsequently. For instance, if one of a pair of male brown bullhead, I. nebulosus (a catfish), is removed from the tank and fed beef liver instead of the usual trout chow and then returned to his partner in their original tank, the resident will behave differently than if the same male is reintroduced without a diet change. The former tank mate is now a chemical stranger. The behavior changes include loss of territory and more activity by the smaller, manipulated fish and more aggression and activity by the resident fish. These diet-dependent odors are not specialized pheromones, and yet they are probably important social chemical cues in the natural territorial and dominance behavior of bullhead catfish. Body odor is the more appropriate term (Bryant and Atema, 1987). 

In the second part of this chapter, we discuss communication by pheromones and pheromone-like chemicals in the context of competition, aggression, dominance, and territorial behavior. 

Chapter 6 discussed signaling pheromones that allow discrimination, recognition, and broadcasting dominance and territorial status. This chapter explores the role of pheromones and other odors in reproduction, alarm, trail following, and in connection with food. Some evolutionary considerations conclude the discussion of signaling pheromones. 

Horne, E. A. and Jaeger, R. G. (1988). Territorial pheromones of female red-backed salamanders. Ethology 78,143. 

Jaeger, R. G. (1986). Pheromonal markers as territorial advertisement by terrestrial salamanders. In Chemical Signals in Vertebrates, vol. 4, ed. D. Duvall, D. Miiller-Schwarze, and R. M. Silverstein, pp. 191-203. New York Plenum. 

Territorial Pheromones. Males of many species of bumblebees mark selected sites with labial gland products that attract both males and females. These territorial mating spots are "perfumed" with a wide variety of acyclic compounds that appear... 

Bee (Andrena spp., Psithyrus sp., Xylocopa varipuncta) male territory marker, male female attractant (OD-R) spider orchid pheromone mimicry... 

Sphecid wasp Philanthus spp.) male territory marker, female attractant Reduced attraction of bark beetle (Pityogenes bidentatus) by pheromones diamondback moth Plutella xylostella) attractant Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata) attractant Sphinx moth Manduca sexto) stimulated diamondback moth Plutella xylostella) attractant stimulates female polyphemus moth Anthera polyphemus male attractant release (oak leaf needed for mating)... 

The complex relationship between certain genera of butterflies belonging to the nymphalid subfamilies Danainae and Ithomiinae, and pyrrolizidine alkaloid containing plants has been discussed. As well as using alkaloids as precursors of pheromones, male butterflies are believed to use pyrrolizidine alkaloids to produce compounds used for territory marking (see above). 

---