CHEMICAL SIGNALS OF BUMBLEBEES

The review summarises chemical compounds found in exocrine glands of d ifferent castes of bumblebees. The sex pheromone of queens, queen pher omones, defence substances, trail pheromones, dominant signals of work ers, marks of a food source, and male's marking pheromones are describ ed. Attention is paid especially to the constituents of labial gland s ecretions of males. An overview is given of the chemistry of 32 specie s of bumblebees (genus Bombus) and 10 species of cuckoo bumblebees (ge nus Psithyrus), occurring in Europe and America. Similarities and diff erences in the chemical composition of secretions of related species w ithin subgenera are discussed.