Abstract
Juvenile hormone (JH) is a key insect hormone involved in the regulation of physiological, developmental and behavioural processes. In social insects, it has been shown that JH can play a key role in modulating reproductive division of labour, age-related division of labour and chemical signalling, and can display marked changes in function of the degree of sociality. Here, we checked the effects of JH on reproduction in single foundresses of two neotropical primitively eusocial wasp species, Mischocyttarus cerberus and Mischocyttarus cassununga, by examining how treatments with the JH-analogue methoprene and the anti-JH precocene affect egg-laying, ovarian activation and chemical profiles. Our hypothesis was that reproduction and the production of particular fertility-linked cuticular hydrocarbon cues might be under shared JH control already in primitively eusocial wasp species, and this could have been a key enabler to allow such cues to later evolve into full-fledged queen pheromone signals in advanced eusocial species. In line with this hypothesis, we show that our hormone treatments significantly affected both egg laying and the production of particular hydrocarbons present on the egg surface. We discuss the relevance of these findings in the context of the evolution of social insect queen pheromones in advanced eusocial species with a morphologically differentiated queen–worker caste.
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Further information on the data mentioned above can be found on the Supplementary Information. The data that supports the findings of this article are fully available in the zip file. The raw data spreadsheets containing the data are also available in the same file.
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All final analyses were performed in the software R using several packages available within R. All the scripts containing the analyses and the packages for the analysis are provided in the zip file.
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This research was funded by Research Foundation Flanders to CAO (postdoctoral fellowship FWO-12V6318N, international mobility grant FWO V449117N and research grant 1513219N). RCS was funded by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) under the grant 2018/22461–3 and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brasil (CAPES), Finance Code 001. CAO, HMF and TW were funded by the research grant (G064120N) and HMF by the international mobility grant FWO V411320N. All authors were funded by the Bilateral grant FWO-FAPESP (FWO GOF8319N and FAPESP 2018/10996-0). We would like to thank Jaqueline Eterna Batista for helping with the survival experiments.
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CAO, HMF, and RCS designed the study. HMF and RC performed the experiments. RCS performed the dissections and the chemical analysis. Data analysis and interpretation of the data was performed by HMF, RCS, TW and CAO. CAO, HMF, and RCS prepare the first draft. All the authors contributed to revising, proofreading, and the approved version before submission.
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Ferreira, H.M., da Silva, R.C., do Nascimento, F.S. et al. Reproduction and fertility signalling under joint juvenile hormone control in primitively eusocial Mischocyttarus wasps. Chemoecology 32, 105–116 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-022-00370-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-022-00370-y