Abstract
The two species of Myrmica produce similar compounds in their mandibular glands, but in very different proportions. Though the secretion has similar ethological activity in both species, the activity is due to different compounds in each. There are no obvious differences in the volatile components of the poison secretion, and workers follow trails of their own or the other species equally well. The volatile components of the Dufour gland secretion are similar in both species and have the short-term effect of encouraging workers to forage. The less volatile part is quite different in the two species and workers recognize their own from the other species secretion when the volatile components have evaporated away. The less volatile part is used for territorial marking, and a territory marked with the pheromone of one species can be overmarked with the secretion of the second species.
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