Presenter: Joshua Coon
Faculty Mentor: Robert Schofield
Presentation Type: Poster 53
Primary Research Area: Science
Major: Biology
Funding Source: McNair Scholar, University of Oregon $3,500
Atta cephalotes has been studied widely for their use of pheromones in terms of foraging trail choice, however there is a lack of research in terms of energetically successful trail choice. According to the current methodology, once a trail is established there is no way for a new trail to become established, even if energetically favored. I propose that pheromones play a role in controlling the preference for a foraging trail that is shorter and consumes less energy. Looking for differences in leaf carrying and non-leaf carrying ants, when given a new path to walk along. Using Teflon tubing to collect the pheromones laid down by each group of ants in two separate scenarios allowed for a clean rinse after collection. The samples were then analyzed using a coupled gas chromatographer and mass spectrometer (GC-MS), using a split method. Preliminary results show a lack of sensitivity of the machine which is necessary for the detection of minuscule analyte quantities. Attempting to counteract the poor sensitivity new optimization methods of collection for obtaining a higher amount of analyte. Including the new preliminary data with optimized collection methods we can begin to piece together new hypothesis about pheromonal control switches using energetic theory.