A Chemical Alarm Releaser in Honey Bee Stings (<i>Apis Mellifera</i> L.)

Abstract

Chemicals that function to communicate alarm am,ong the members of hymenopteran colonies have been discovered in recent years by several investigators. These chemicals, released by disturbed insects and detected in the gaseous state by other members of the colony, have been shown to elicit various forms of alarm behavior, differing accord- ing to species, but always related to the defense of the colony. Certain species of ants in particular have been shown to employ such "alarm releasers" (Wilson, 1958 Butenandt and Lindauer, 959; Brown, 96o Ghent, 196I )o Preliminary evidence presented by Huber (I814) suggests that the honey bee (dpis mellifera) also possesses such a mechanism.