C-6-7
ISOLATION OF A PRIMER PHEROMONE IN THE RED IMPORTEDFIRE ANT (SOLENOPSIS INVICTA).
Scott Baird1, Ron T. K. Cheng1, Keith N. Slessor1,Edward L. Vargo2
1Dept. of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C,Canada V5A 1S6
2Fire Ant Lab, Dept. of Zoology, University of Texas, Austin,TX, USA 78712
The Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) queen, like mostmatriarchs amongst social insects, exerts reproductive control over hercolony using primer pheromones. One manifestation of this chemicalcontrol is preventing dealation of virgin queens. Dealation is anecessary first step for ovarian development in fire ants. Whilethe storehouse of this pheromone has been identified as the poison sac,its chemical structure remains unassigned. Bioassay guided fractionationof queen poison sac extracts has led to the isolation of a queen specificcompound believed to be involved in this process as well as evidence ofpossible synergism.