Ecology and Evolution of Chemical Communication in Social Insects

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450). This special issue belongs to the section "Insect Societies and Sociality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2023) | Viewed by 139

Special Issue Editor

School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
Interests: social insects; pheromones; superorganism; chemical communication; sociogenomics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Eusociality, mostly expressed in social insects, is a pinnacle in evolutionary transitions. The social insect colony is typified by coordinated behavior that analogizes them to a superorganism. Such a self-organized system is made possible through the evolution of complex communication systems, among which chemical communication is a hallmark of social insects. They are endowed with exocrine glands that produce a dazzling array of chemicals that serve as pheromones, which play a pivotal role in almost every facet of their biology. An overview of the chemical nature and glandular sources of the various pheromones reveals remarkable behavioral and chemical flexibility. Pheromones having the same biological function can have diverse chemistry and originate from different exocrine glands on the one hand, and on the other hand, the same chemical can possess two different pheromonal functions. It appears that chemical communication in social insects has evolved many times independently, haphazardly using both existing biochemical pathways and exocrine glands and governed by the species’ evolutionary history interwind with its ecology.

Through original articles and reviews, this Special Issue focuses on the ecology and evolution of social insect chemical communication, encompassing new behavioral, chemical and genomic aspects, retrospectively and prospectively.

Prof. Dr. Abraham Hefetz
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • social insects
  • pheromones
  • superorganism
  • chemical communication
  • sociogenomics
  • social behavior
  • social evolution
  • pheromone chemistry
  • exocrine glands

Published Papers

There is no accepted submissions to this special issue at this moment.
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