Queen retinue pheromone

Queen retinue pheromones (QRP) are a type of honey bee pheromones. The following compounds have also been identified,^[1] of which only coniferyl alcohol is found in the mandibular glands. The combination of the 5 QMP compounds and the 4 compounds below is called the Queen Retinue Pheromone (QRP). These nine compounds are important for the retinue attraction of worker bees around their queen.

methyl (Z)-octadec-9-enoate (methyl oleate)
(E)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-prop-2-en-1-ol (coniferyl alcohol)
hexadecan-1-ol
(Z9,Z12,Z15)-octadeca-9,12,15-trienoic acid (linolenic acid)

References

↑ Keeling, C. I., Slessor, K. N., Higo, H. A. and Winston, M. L. (2003) Isolation and identification of new components of the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) queen retinue pheromone. PNAS, April 15, 2003 vol. 100 no. 8 4486-4491, doi:10.1073/pnas.0836984100

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