Volatile Terpenes and Terpenoids from Workers and Queens of <i>Monomorium chinense</i> (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Rui Zhao,
Lihua Lu,
Qingxing Shi,
Jian Chen,
Yurong He
Affiliations
Rui Zhao
Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510642, China
Lihua Lu
Plant Protection Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510640, China
Qingxing Shi
Plant Protection Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510640, China
Jian Chen
National Biological Control Laboratory, Southeast Area, Agriculture Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, 59 Lee Road, Stoneville, MS 38776, USA
Yurong He
Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510642, China
Twenty-one volatile terpenes and terpenoids were found in Monomorium chinense Santschi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), a native Chinese ant, by using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas-phase chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS), which makes this ant one of the most prolific terpene producers in insect. A sesquiterpene with unknown structure (terpene 1) was the main terpene in workers and neocembrene in queens. Terpenes and terpenoids were detected in poison, Dufour’s and mandibular glands of both workers and queens. Worker ants raised on a terpene-free diet showed the same terpene profile as ants collected in the field, indicating that de novo terpene and terpenoid synthesis occurs in M. chinense.
