ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a brief background discussion on fire ant recognition and orientation mechanisms, followed by a review of the status of research on the trail pheromone. Solenopsls species are territorial by nature and tend to monopolize a food source and foraging area due to their aggressive behavior and ability to utilize trail pheromones that recruit and orient workers to specific locations. Qualitatively, pheromone components are identical, but they vary quantitatively, as evidenced by significant overall differences in cuticular hydrocarbon patterns of several Solenopsis invicta colonies. Olfactometer species-specificity tests comparing the responses of S. richteri and S. invicta to each others Dufour's gland extracts did not show clear differentiation. In contrast, S. richteri only responded to its own Dufour's gland extract, ignoring the material from S. invicta. One was based on the response of workers to a point source of Dufour's gland extract.
