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Chemical ecology

Reprogramming a termite monarchy

Nature Chemical Biology volume 6, pages 637–638 (2010)Cite this article

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Subterranean termite colonies are founded by a single king and queen. However, the king generally outlives the queen, and an optimal number of secondary termite queens must be produced to meet the reproductive needs of the colony. A recent study explains the chemical basis of this biological process.

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Figure 1: Chemical suppression of reproductive development by a simple binary pheromone blend of 2-methyl-1-butanol and n-butyl-n-butyrate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jennifer J. Bussell and Leslie B. Vosshall are at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.,

    Jennifer J Bussell & Leslie B Vosshall

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  1. Jennifer J Bussell
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  2. Leslie B Vosshall
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Correspondence to Leslie B Vosshall.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Bussell, J., Vosshall, L. Reprogramming a termite monarchy. Nat Chem Biol 6, 637–638 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.428

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