Research Article Open Access

A Comparison of Pheromonal Compounds in the Mandibular Gland of Tropical Fire Ant, Oecophylla smaragdina and Thorn Black Ant, Lusios niger

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out to differentiate the pheromonal compounds of mandibular gland of two different ant species namely tropical fire ant, Oecophylla smaragdina and thorn black ant, Lusios niger from Sivkasi town. The results indicated that there is a distinct difference between the two species in their aromatic and hydrocarbons compounds through GC-MS analysis. The major compounds in the O. smaragdina was found to be mainly hydrocarbon (58%) and aromatic (48%) while comparing with L. niger it has hydrocarbons (71%) and aromatic (29%). The mandibular gland extracts were tested for the pheromonal compounds in the field and we obtained a significant observation of attraction of ants towards the head extracts.

Amar T, Balaji S and Pandiarajan J

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