Alkaloid secretion inhibited by antibiotics in Aphaenogaster ants

Although alkaloids are frequent in the poison glands of ants of the genus Aphaenogaster, this is not the case for A. iberica. Hypothesizing that in the genus Aphaenogaster, alkaloids are produced by symbiotic bacteria, except for A. iberica, we treated an experimental lot of both A. iberica and a 'classical' Aphaenogaster species, A. senilis, with an antibiotic. Compared to workers from a control lot, this treatment reduced considerably alkaloid production in A. senilis, whereas A. iberica did not react to the treatment. Furthermore, the treatment induced an increase in cuticular hydrocarbon quantities in A. senilis, but not in A. iberica. An analysis of the ant microbiota will be the next step to confirm our hypothesis.