Cuticular Hydrocarbon Composition Reflects Genetic Relationship Among Colonies of the Introduced Termite

Abstract Nestmate recognition plays a key role in kin selection to maintain colony integrity in social insects. Previous studies have demonstrated that nestmate recognition is dependent on detection of cuticular hydrocarbons. However, the absence of intraspecific aggression between some colonies of Isoptera and social Hymenoptera questions whether kin recognition must occur in social insects. The purpose of this study was to determine if cuticular hydrocarbon similarity and high genetic relatedness could explain the lack of intraspecific aggression among and within colonies of the introduced subterranean termite Reticulitermes santonensis. We performed both GC analysis of cuticular hydrocarbons and genotyping by using 10 DNA microsatellite loci on the same 10 workers from each of 14 Parisian colonies. Multivariate analyses demonstrated correspondence between cuticular hydrocarbon patterns and genetic variation. By using a redundancy analysis combining chemical and genetic data, we found that a few hydrocarbons (mainly short vs. long chains; saturated vs. unsaturated alkanes) were associated with most genetic variation. We also found a strong positive correlation between chemical an