 Often, this method of communication comes in the form of chemical signals between members of the same colony.In particular, cuticular hydrocarbon levels are thought to be of great importance to "S. quadripunctata" communication and can vary greatly according to age, sex and caste.Hydrocarbons in the stingless bee can vary in length from nonadecane with nineteen carbons to tritriacontane with thirty-three carbons, as discovered in a study conducted by Nunes et al.