Project details
Chemical signals of bumblebees: identification of components, their biological activity and biosynthesis
| Project Identification: | GA203/98/0453 | ||||||||
| Project Period: | 1/1998 - 1/2000 | ||||||||
| Investor: |  Czech Science Foundation | ||||||||
| Programme / Project Type: | Standard Projects - | ||||||||
| MU Faculty/Unit: |
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| Cooperating Organization: |
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| Field: | CB - Analytic chemistry (C - Chemistry) CC - Organic chemistry (C - Chemistry) EG - Zoology (E - Bio-science) | ||||||||
| Publications/Results: | more | ||||||||
The grant proposal is a continuation of the project 'Communication of Social Insects: Study of Chemical Signals of Bumblebees' that was supporteds by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic during 1995-1997. We propose to study several types of signals us eds by the individual casts of a bumblebee colony for the communication. We will continue the study of marking pheromones of bumblebee males and we will widen our research to sex pheromones of females. Mandibular gland of egg-laying queens is, accordint to the literature, a source of queen's pheromone, inhibiting the ovarian development in workers. Secretion of this gland will be analysed, its components identified and the composition will be compared to that of virgin females to see the differences in compounds that may be the active ones. Biological test in laboratory colonies will follow the analysis. Furthermore, we intend to analyse the Dufour's gland secretion of workers that forms a characteristic odour of a bumblebee nest and marks a trail to t
