Intraspecific and Intracolonial Variation in the Profile of Venom Alkaloids and Cuticular Hydrocarbons of the Fire Ant Solenopsis saevissima Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Table 4

Relative abundance (%) of piperidinic alkaloids obtained from hexane extracts of small workers (SWs), medium workers (MWs), and major workers (LWs) and gynes (Gs) from different nests of Solenopsis saevissima varieties A (𝑛=3) and B (𝑛=4) from Pedro do Rio, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil.

Piperidine	S. saevissima variety A				S. saevissima variety B
	SW	MW	LW	G	SW	MW	LW	G
C11:1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.35±1.15
cis-C11	tr	—	—	33.22	4.16±2.16	7.51±4.27	12.21±5.70	61.79±12.99
trans-C11	tr	tr	tr	35.15	95.84±2.16	98.48±4.28	87.79±5.70	tr
cis-C13:1	tr	31.52–35.76	49.69–55.00	17.68	tr	tr	tr	33.15±15.92
cis-C13	tr	tr	tr	4.04	—	—	tr	1.37±0.94
trans-C13:1	97.80–98.00	60.02–64.24	45.53–50.31	7.76	tr	tr	tr	tr
trans-C13	—	—	—	2.15	—	—	—	tr
Unknown	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	tr
Total	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00

Notes: Compounds identified by comparing with mass spectra from Brand et al. 1972 [29] and Leclercq et al. 1994 [23]. (—) = not found; (tr) = trace amounts. No venom alkaloids were found on males. For further information on the extraction and species varieties, refer to narrative.