Solenopsis fugax

The principal component of the secretion of the poison gland of the European thief ant (Solenopsis fugax) is rrarcs-2-n-butyl-5-n-heptylpyrrolidine, identified by mass spectrometry and synthesis.5 The reductive amination of 1,4-diketones with sodium cyanoborohydride and ammonium acetate has yielded various 2,5-dialkyl-pyrrolidines that occur in the poison glands of ants of Monomorium spp.6... 

The disubstituted pyrrolidines and piperidines have been demonstrated to be excellent repellents for ants under field conditions. Workers of Monomorium pharaonis effectively repel other species of ants with venom droplets which accumulate on the tip of the sting (37), a strategy that is used with equal success by workers of North American Monomorium species ( 38.) and the European thief ant, Solenopsis fugax (37). The venom of the latter species contains a single alkaloid, trans-2-butyl-5-heptylpyrrolidine (I, m=3, n=6) (1 ), and the... 

Like D. uelense ants, Solenopsis fugax ants and Nomada bees have developed a way of predation which permits them to invade and steal brood from their prey. The European thief ants S. fugax, steal brood from nearby nests of other ant colonies by building a system of subterranean tunnels which lead to the nest of their prey. Scout ants lay down trail pheromone from the Dufour s gland to attract nest mates... 

A number of small, mass-recruiting species of ants are able to repel larger species by means of glandular secretions. Monomoriumpharaonis, Solenopsis fugax (HOlldobler, 1973) and M. minimum (Adams and Traniello, 1981) use... 

HOlldobler, B, (1973) Chemische Strategic beim Nahrungserwerb der Diebsameise Solenopsis fugax Latr.) und der Pharaoameise (Monomorium pharaonis L.). Oecologia, 11, 371-80. 

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