Social insects pheromone biosynthesis

Pheromone identification is still difficult because the structure of unique compounds present in small amounts in mixtures of similar molecules has to be elucidated. This topic will be discussed in detail by Ando as well as by others, showing nicely the recent progress in analytical techniques. The following chapter by R. Jurenka deals with insect pheromone biosynthesis with special emphasis on lepidopteran pheromones and also covers genetic aspects. The subsequent chapter by C. Keeling et al. describes the hymenopteran semio-chemicals (bees and ants), describing pheromones and allelochemicals. The hymenoptera add a certain flavor to the scene, because now the complexity of social insects with their many interactions comes into play, as well as the multi-level (multi-trophic) signals used by parasitoids. 

Pheromone biosynthesis in the social insects has not been looked at in as much detail as the pheromones of other insect groups, perhaps in part due to the... 

Blomquist, G. J. and Howard, R. W. (2003). Pheromone biosynthesis in social insects. In Insect Pheromone Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, ed. G.J. Blomquist and R. Vogt. Amsterdam Elsevier, pp. 323-340. 

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