Figure 7

Age and status related changes in cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles of Synoeca surinama . (A) Relative percentages of CHC compounds in females in queenless (top) and queenright (bottom) conditions from colonies 5 and 7 (mean %% ± SD). Linear alkanes are shown in white circles; alkenes are shown in black circles (for identities, see Additional file 6: Table S1). The surrounding arrows indicate evident changes in a compound’s proportional representation over the first 8 or 9 days of adult life and also show a difference between queen and workers (see Figure 6). Small arrows specify an age-specific shift, thick black arrows indicate a queen-like shift and thick gray arrows signify a worker-like shift. (B) Canonical scatterplot based on a discriminant analysis of CHC profiles for females belonging to colonies 6–8. daqr = days after queen removal.