ABSTRACT
All ants are eusocial, which means there are overlapping generations in which adult workers assist their mother in rearing sisters and brothers, and there are reproductive and non-reproductive castes. Many pheromone induced behaviors associated with ants effectively maintain colony social structure, cohesiveness, and productivity. Pheromone research has two basic elements. The first is observational, where a particular behavior is studied and experimental evidence suggests that pheromones are involved. The second part is the chemistry of the pheromones. Heightened worker excitement and aggression at the onset of mating flights has been observed in several ant species. By definition a brood pheromone is a chemical or mixture of chemicals released by immature stages that elicits a behavioral response in conspecific adults. Ants have evolved a wide variety of mechanisms for recruitment and orientation using pheromones. One of the least complicated is tandem running.
