Trail communication in two Messor species, M. meridionalis and M. foreli (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Figures & data

Figure 1. Mean number of Messor meridionalis workers evoked by hexane (controls), gaster, hindgut contents, poison or Dufour's gland secretions. Error bars represent the standard errors of the mean of five replicates. Similar letters indicate no significant difference, while different letters indicate significant difference.

Figure 2. Mean number of Messor foreli workers evoked by hexane (controls), gaster, hindgut contents, poison or Dufour's gland secretions. Error bars represent the standard errors of the mean of five replicates. Similar letters indicate no significant difference, while different letters indicate significant difference.

Figure 3. Mean number of Messor workers responding to an artificial trail of different concentrations of Dufour gland extract. Error bars represent the standard errors of the mean of five replicates.

Figure 4. Longevity of the trail pheromone of the two Messor ant species. Error bars represent the standard errors of the mean of five replicates.

Table I. Interspecific responses of M. meridionali s and M. foreli trail extracts

	Test species
	M. meridionalis	M. foreli
Source species	No. of ants (mean ± SD)
M. meridionalis	43.29 ± 3.17 ^a	46.11 ± 4.26 ^a
M. foreli	31.27 ± 2.51 ^a	52.47 ± 4.61 ^a
^ano significant difference.