Male-Specific Substances Possibly Contributing to Nuptial Flight of the Japanese Carpenter Ant Camponotus japonicus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

The nuptial flight of ants usually occurs during certain periods of the year. Alate females and males fly out of their nests to mate simultaneously. In the genus Camponotus, sex-specific chemicals are deposited in the male head; however, their roles in nuptial flight have not yet been clarified.

Chemical identification of an active component and putative neural mechanism for repellent effect of a native ant's odor on invasive species.

The invasive Argentine ants () and the red imported fire ants () constitute a worldwide threat, causing severe disruption to ecological systems and harming human welfare. In view of the limited success of current pest control measures, we propose here to employ repellents as means to mitigate the effect of these species. We demonstrate that cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) used as nestmate-recognition pheromone in the Japanese carpenter ant (), and particularly its ()-9-tricosene component, induced vigorous olfactory response and intense aversion in these invasive species.

Antenna Cleaning Is Essential for Precise Behavioral Response to Alarm Pheromone and Nestmate-Non-Nestmate Discrimination in Japanese Carpenter Ants ().

Self-grooming of the antennae is frequently observed in ants. This antennal maintenance behavior is presumed to be essential for effective chemical communication but, to our knowledge, this has not yet been well studied. When we removed the antenna-cleaning apparatuses of the Japanese carpenter ant () to limit the self-grooming of the antennae, the worker ants demonstrated the self-grooming gesture as usual, but the antennal surface could not be sufficiently cleaned.