NCSU Course ZO410 Lecture: 
Chemical Communication 

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• Pheromone - any substance that, when transmitted from one organism to another of the same species elicits a behavioral, developmental or physiological response
• Signalingpheromones - behavioral response, e.g.. territorial markers, sex attractants.
• Priming pheromones - physiological or developmental effect on recipient.

 
 

Invertebrate examples:

• Queen butterfly

-male transfers a pheromone, DANAIDONE, a nitrogen containing ketone. (milkweed)
-gives female info about male quality, protects eggs/larvae

 

Bees, Queen pheromone

-queen is center of hive and the only reproductive female.
-queen exudes a pheromone (chemistry unknown) =queen is healthy, etc.
 

Ants

-fire ants leave trail of a pheromone to lead others to food

• Ants also have alarm pheromone, clean-up pheromone, and aggregation.

 

VERTEBRATE Signalng Pheromones:

• Red-sided Garter Snake -  "mating ball."
•  males chin rub and touch females back with tongue - detect pheromone - estrogen
• male produces "turn-off" pheromone
• male "homosexual" snakes - "she-males."

 

• Sheep

            - ewe mother will only accept her own newborn-- foster lamb will be accepted if suckles mothers milk for a few days.

 -primarily due to Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes
 

• Control of mating preferences: Congenic mice - genetically identical except for one or few genes. Males  prefer females with different MHC

 

• Hamster

            - solitary, female leaves pheromonal trail when comes into estrus

 

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VERTEBRATE Priming Pheromones:

• Vomeronasal Organ

            - specialized for reception of nonvolatile chemicals
            - in close contact with hypothalamus-pituitary axis
 

• Mouse reproduction

            - puberty acceleration/inhibition depending on male presence (Vandenbergh)
            - implantation blocked (Bruce)
            - estrus synchrony (Whitten)
            - population density
 

• Snake

            - VNO on roof of mouth, chemicals delivered by tongue
 

• Flehman

            - many mammals, curl back upper lip, transfer chemicals to VNO

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Pheromones in humans

• more complex than non-human mammals
• no evidence for VNO in humans
• mother-infant recognition
• menstrual synchrony - McClintock
• Preti, follow-up to McClintock
• tested male sweat on women with long cycles.
• tested regularly cycling women's sweat on volunteers
• Perfumes - noses
• link between nose and genitalia.
• perfumes: Two common ingredients are musk and civet.
• females more sensitive to odors and tastes than men