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Science 19 September 1969:
Vol. 165. no. 3899, pp. 1266 - 1269
DOI: 10.1126/science.165.3899.1266
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Articles

Ant Alarm Pheromone Activity: Correlation with Molecular Shape by Scanning Computer

John E. Amoore 1, Guido Palmieri 2, Enzo Wanke 2, and Murray S. Blum 3

1 Western Regional Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Albany, California 94710
2 Gruppo Nazionale Cibernetica del C.N.R., Istituto di Fisica, Università degli Studi, Genoa, Italy
3 Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens 30601

The ant Iridomyrmex pruinosus utilizes 2-heptanone as an alarm pheromone. The activities of 49 ketones and 35 nonketones as alarm pheromones for this species were determined. The molecular shapes of these compounds were assessed by submitting silhouette photographs of their molecular models to a pattern recognition machine. A highly significant correlation exists between molecular shape and alarm activity.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Biological Responses of Atta texana to Its Alarm Pheromone and the Enantiomer of the Pheromone.
R. G. Riley, R. M. Silverstein, and J. C. Moser (1974)
Science 183, 760-762
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)