Authors
DL Marshall, AJ Beattie, WE Bollenbacher
Publication date
1979/5
Journal
Journal of Chemical Ecology
Volume
5
Pages
335-344
Publisher
Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers
Description
The chemical basis of an ant-seed interaction was investigated for the antAphaenogaster rudis and the ant-dispersed violetViola odorata. A laboratory behavioral bioassay was developed to chemically identify the attractant responsible for the interaction. The ant attractant, localized in the elaiosome, was classified as a lipid by both field and laboratory bioassays. Assays of partially purified lipid extracts revealed that the principal attractant may be a diglyceride. Gas-liquid chromatography analysis of the hydrolyzed diglyceride fraction revealed oleic acid as the major fatty acid present, suggesting that either 1,2- or 1,3-diolein may be the attractant. Structure-activity correlations for lipid standards demonstrated a clear preference for the diglyceride 1,2-diolein. The data also suggest that ricinoleic acid is not the lipid eliciting the ant response toViola odorata, as had been previously suggested.
Total citations
Scholar articles
DL Marshall, AJ Beattie, WE Bollenbacher - Journal of Chemical Ecology, 1979