Unsaturated extracted hydrocarbon caste differences between European queen and worker honey bees, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Extraction and analysis of the hydrocarbons from European honey bee queens indicates the presence of unsaturated compounds not exhibited by worker bees. Queen-specific hydrocarbons consist of a homologous series of long-chain alkenes sharing the common feature of being unsaturated 15 carbons from the end of the molecule (N-15 olefins) and two series of alkadienes. Extraction of specific body parts shows the queen-specific hydrocarbons to be localized on the abdomen and concentrated on the dorsal surface, while the worker compounds are evenly distributed over the insect. Comparison of the average queen olefin abundance profile with the average profile for workers suggests that queens display additional biosynthetic paths which are masked in workers, and unmasked at some point in the process of queen determination.