Page 33 - Engineering in Nature

Harun Yahya

from raising a new queen, which
Lo moth
would otherwise lead to chaos in the
hive.
Among insects that live commu-

nally, pheromones also assist with
food distribution and also the defense
of the colony. These pheromones let
colony members recognize each other
and refuse admittance to strangers
who lack that distinctive scent.
For example, sweet bees of the spe-
cies Halictidae maintain the cohesion
of the colony thanks to their own
unique pheromone. The bees cover the earthern part of the entrance
to their nest and the main nest's upper sections with a special secre-
tion. This consists of a chemical compound known as macrocyclic lac-
tone. Every member of the colony has its own lactone mixture, giving
it a kind of chemical fingerprint.
The colony's worker bees leave their own secretions at the en-
trance to the nest and in the upper tunnel regions. The lactone mix-
tures of all the colony members mingle together, thus giving the
entrance a unique smell. This is

important because in regions
where these bees live, hun-
dreds of nests are found very
close to one another. This scent
at the nest's entrance lets re-
turning workers recognize their

Adnan Oktar
31