Chemical Usurpation of a Nest by Paper Wasp Parasites
Anne-Geneviève Bagnères,
*
Maria Cristina Lorenzi,
Georges Dusticier,
Stefano Turillazzi,
Jean-Luc Clément
The paper wasp Polistes atrimandibularis is an
obligatory social parasite of another Polistes species,
P. biglumis bimaculatus. To control the host nest, the
parasite sequentially changes the composition of its chemical
signature, the cuticular hydrocarbons, during the colonial cycle. Gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry of the cuticular hydrocarbons at
every stage of the cycle showed that the parasite can switch on and off
an entire chemical family, namely, the unsaturated hydrocarbons. In
this way the parasite can match the host signature at a critical moment
of the colonial cycle.
A.-G. Bagnères, G. Dusticier, J.-L. Clément, CNRS UPR
9024, Laboratoire de Neurobiologie-Communication Chimique, 31, Chemin
Joseph Aiguier, 13402 Marseille Cedex 09, France.
M.-C. Lorenzi, Dipartmento di Morfofisiol Veterinaria, Università
di Torino, Viale Mattioli 25, 10125 Turin, Italy.
S. Turillazzi, Dipartmento di Biologia Animale é Genetica,
Università di Firenze, Via Romana 17, 50125 Florence, Italy.
*
To whom correspondence should be adressed.
