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Add as preferred source Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain New research by SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Margarita Orlova is providing new insight into how bumblebee queens communicate through chemical signals and how those signals change throughout their lives.
Orlova collaborated with Dr. Etya Amsalem of Penn State University on the paper, "A Common Regulatory Architecture Shapes Queen Chemical Signals Across Multiple Exocrine Sites," published in the Journal of Chemical Ecology.
Insects use chemicals produced by different glands and other sites throughout their bodies to communicate information such as identity, health and reproductive status. While these chemical sources are typically studied individually, Orlova and Amsalem examined whether changes occurring across different sites within the same insect may be coordinated.
The researchers studied bumblebee queens across three key life stages: newly emerged unmated queens, young queens beginning to establish colonies, and older queens raising new queens and males. They analyzed chemical secretions from multiple sites to determine how their composition changed as queens aged and transitioned into reproduction.
The study found coordinated chemical changes across multiple sites as the queens aged. Among the most notable findings, older queens produced shorter hydrocarbons and esters, while several other components of their chemical profiles also changed with mating, age and reproductive status. These patterns suggest that chemical signals produced in different parts of the body may be influenced by shared biological processes rather than operating independently.
The findings provide a broader perspective on insect chemical communication, suggesting that examining a bee's combined chemical profile may reveal more biologically meaningful information than studying individual glands in isolation. The research also opens opportunities to further study the physiological mechanisms that coordinate these signals and how chemical communication has evolved across different insect species.
Margarita Orlova et al, A Common Regulatory Architecture Shapes Queen Chemical Signals Across Multiple Exocrine Sites, Journal of Chemical Ecology (2026). DOI: 10.1007/s10886-026-01750-2
Provided by SUNY Polytechnic Institute
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Bumblebee queens showed coordinated age- and reproduction-associated changes in chemical secretions across multiple body sites. Older queens produced shorter hydrocarbons and esters, with other compounds varying by mating status and reproductive stage. Shared regulatory processes may shape whole-body chemical signaling.
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