My name is Dean Firkus; I am a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. I plan on conducting research on ant alarm pheromones, in particular the reactions of a group workers and soldiers to the alarm pheromones of both workers' and soldiers' alarm pheromones. I would like to observe the difference in reaction upon reception, the chemical composition of workers' and soldiers' alarm pheromone blend, the radius and dispersal or each alarm pheromone blend, and the time that the pheromone persists and elicits a response. I have been reading past research conducted on this topic, namely the work of Bradshaw and Howse, who studied the application of ant alarm pheromone to bait piles to see which type of application would be more attractive. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to apply an ant alarm pheromone, or any pheromone for that matter, to a flat medium, such as= a piece of paper. =20
It is the actual procedure that I am after, because I can not find the method of extraction of application of ant pheromones anywhere, though= I read about it in past research every day. I would not like to use synthetic or commercial pheromones; I would like to compare the reactions of a group of workers and soldiers to members of their own colony. =20 Thank you very much for the time of those who read this. =20
