Pheromone
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A pheromone is a scent given off by some animals. The scent causes a social response in members of the same species.
There are many types of pheromone, such as:
- Sex pheromones (to attract a partner): e.g. butterflies and moths
- Alarm pheromones (to warn the group): e.g. wasps
- Food trail pheromomes (to let others know what has been found): e.g. ants
- Territorial pheromones: e.g. cats and dogs
- Various 'short-term' pheromones cause a rapid but brief behaviour: e.g. releasing a cluster of nymphs, or positioning the body for sex.
All pheromones work by inherited instinct, not by learning. They occur in most animals, but are especially obvious in insects.
Pheromone Media
A fanning honeybee exposes Nasonov's gland (white – at tip of abdomen) releasing pheromone to entice swarm into an empty hive
Pentatomid bug nymphs aggregating on a plant in Bangalore, India
Aggregation of the water springtail Podura aquatica
Dogs communicate using pheromones and olfactory signals in urine.
Male Danaus chrysippus showing the pheromone pouch and brush-like organ in Kerala, India
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