Nestmate recognition and temporal modulation in the patterns of cuticular hydrocarbons in natural colonies of Japanese carpenter ant Camponotus japonicus Mayr (Hymenoptera : Formicidae)

Camponotus japonicus workers can discriminate nestmates from alien individu als. In the field, freeze-killed alien workers received significantly more attacks than nestmate carcasses. Gas chromatography (GC) analysis showed th at the compositions of cuticular hydrocarbons of foraging workers from diff erent colonies were the same, but the relative proportions of some compound s were colony-specific. These compounds are thus likely to function as colo nial signatures. Characterization of the cuticular hydrocarbons by GC for 2 natural colonies at an interval of about 30 days over 4 months revealed th at the patterns of cuticular hydrocarbon of foraging workers were not fixed but changed with lime. The significant temporal modulation in term of prop ortions occurred in 5 of the 6 compounds that seemed to be the potential co lonial signatures. The biological significance of temporal modulation in co lonial signature is also discussed.