Octadecanolide is an organic compound with the chemical formula C18H34O2. It is a cyclic ester or lactone, more specifically a macrolide.
Occurrence
Several species of bees (such as some of genera Colletes, Halictus, Lasioglossum) and butterflies (such as some of genus Heliconius) use octadecanolide as a pheromone.1 The Dufour's gland of bees in the Halictinae subfamily, contains octadecanolide along with other macrocyclic lactones, which could be used for a range of different applications like nest building, larval food and chemical communication.234
References
octadecanolide in Pherobase https://pherobase.com/database/compound/compounds-detail-18-octadecanolide.php ↩
Hefetz, Abraham; Blum, Murray; Eickwort, George; Wheeler, James (1978). "Chemistry of the dufour's gland secretion of halictine bees". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology B. 61 (1): 129–132. doi:10.1016/0305-0491(78)90229-8. /wiki/Doi_(identifier) ↩
Johansson, Ingela (1982). "Systematic relationship of halictinae bees based on the pattern of macrocyclic lactones in the Dufour gland secretion". Insect Biochemistry. 12 (2): 161–170. doi:10.1016/0020-1790(82)90004-X. /wiki/Doi_(identifier) ↩
Mitra, Aniruddha (2013). "Function of the Dufour's gland in solitary and social Hymenoptera". Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 35: 33–58. doi:10.3897/JHR.35.4783. https://doi.org/10.3897%2FJHR.35.4783 ↩