Chemical and transcriptomic diversity do not correlate with ascending levels of social complexity in the insect order Blattodea.

ABSTRACT: Eusocial insects, such as ants and termites, are characterized by high levels of coordinated social organization. This is contrasted by solitary insects that display more limited forms of collective behavior. It has been hypothesized that this gradient in sociobehavioral sophistication is positively correlated with chemical profile complexity, due to a potentially increased demand for diversity in chemical communication mechanisms in insects with higher levels of social complexity. However, this claim has rarely been assessed empirically. Here, we compare different levels of chemical and transcriptomic complexity in selected species of the order Blattodea that represent different levels of social organization, from solitary to eusocial. We primarily focus on cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) com

SUBMITTER: Golian MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11289792 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature