Types of pheromones

Classification of pheromones

According to their effects, pheromones are divided into two main types: releasers and primers.

Releasers  ( eng.  releaser ) encourage the individual to take some immediate action; are used to attract mates, signal danger, and prompt other immediate action.

Primers ( eng.  primer ) are used to form certain behavior and influence the development of other individuals: for example, a special pheromone secreted by the queen bee and suppresses the sexual development of other female bees, thus turning them into worker bees.

As separate names for some types of pheromones, the following can be given:

  • epagons - sexual attractants ;
  • odmihnions - path marks indicating the way to a hole or to found prey, marks on the boundaries of an individual territory;
  • toribones - pheromones of fear and anxiety ;
  • gonophyons - pheromones that induce sex change ;
  • gamophions - pheromones of puberty;
  • etofion - pheromones of behavior;

Lichneumons are pheromones that disguise an animal as a different species.

Insect pheromones

Pheromones are used by insects to give a wide variety of signals. The bombykol mentioned above was used by female silkworms to find a sexual partner, but the influence of pheromones on the regulation of insect life is not limited to this.

For example, ants use pheromones to indicate the path they have traveled. According to special marks left along the way, the ant can find its way back to the anthill. In addition, pheromone tags show the anthill the path to the prey found. Separate odors are used by ants to signal danger, which provokes either flight or aggressiveness in individuals.

Vertebrate pheromones 

In view of rather complex behavioral responses, vertebrate pheromones have been poorly studied. There is an assumption that the pheromone receptor in vertebrates is the vomeronasal (Jacobson) organ.

During the study of these phenomena, it was found that some chemicals of a steroid nature can play the role of sex pheromones [3] . However, researchers note that the behavior of higher mammals, including humans, is subject to many factors, and pheromones do not play a decisive role in its regulation.

The use of pheromones 

Pheromones have found their use in agriculture. In combination with various types of traps, pheromones that attract insects can destroy significant numbers of pests. Also, spraying pheromones over protected agricultural land can deceive male pests and thus reduce the population of harmful insects - due to the fact that males, attracted by a stronger synthetic smell, will not be able to find a female to mate. Scientists have learned to synthesize many insect pheromones artificially.

In the modern market of perfumery products, there are products that are positioned as "containing pheromones". Manufacturers of such products claim that its use enhances the attractiveness of the opposite sex "on a subconscious level", acting as an aphrodisiac.




Location: United States

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