When it ’s time to find a queen , the hallway of Amerind jumping ant nests are fill up with the “ princess pheromone ” , like a Disney movie written by David Attenborough .
Colonies of Indian jump emmet ( Harpegnathos saltator ) start to raise their new generation of royal family around the first summertime monsoon rain . These females go on to provide the settlement after they mature , copulate with wing males , and put up their own Modern dynasty . As with many surface area of ant life history , this is coordinated through pheromone .
In astudy published in the journalAnimal Behaviour , scientist have revealed that those ant larvae destined to be queens use a chemical signaling , known as the “ princess pheromone ” , to pass along to doer ants that the clock time is proper to ready for a newfangled crop of queens .
If the lava essay to make grow into a queen mole rat at the wrong time then this pheromone also distinguish the worker emmet to quench the uprising , which they do by chewing on the larva . This prompts them to accent out , intelligibly , cause them to repress poove exploitation and develop as a actor instead .
However , if the fourth dimension is right , the pheromone cues the actor to allow for the larva with all the food for thought and resource it needs to become a queen .
" People have been studying pheromone in ants for more than 50 class , and pretty much everything we ’ve learned regards how adult pismire practice pheromones to convey with each other , " Clint Penick , a postdoctoral researcher at North Carolina State University and lead author of the study , say ina statement . “This is one of the only instances – maybe even the first time – that we ’ve find oneself ant larvae produce pheromones that influence dependency conduct . "
This discovery was made by taking samples of the wax layer found on the cuticle of larvae . They took sample from queen larvae and worker larvae and recover their chemical composition was very different . When they switched around the cuticle between the two types of larvae , this prompt the workers to regale the larvae different . For a abbreviated time , the mere doer larvae carry off to trick themselves into a situation of privilege .
“ Signals like the princess pheromone are essential to societal insects , " add Penick . " Ants have to have a way to ensure that there are enough workers in the colony , otherwise all larvae could develop as queen regnant and the insect ' companionship ' would break down . ”
