Nestmate recognition in social insects and the role of hydrocarbons

Three decades of investigation into kin and nestmate recognition in social insects has resulted in an overwhelming amount of literature on the subject. By and large this has led to the elucidation of the recognition cues involved – cuticular hydrocarbons – but the physiological processes behind nestmate recognition have essentially remained undiscovered. We discuss the evidence for the importance of hydrocarbons and hypotheses regarding the neural representation of hydrocarbons in nestmate recognition.edition: 1ststatus: publishe