Latest Pheromone Stories

John Neumann for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Researchers have long known that ants live in some of the most complex social structures of any animal. With the division of labor and communication between individual ants and the ability to solve complex problems, the reason for such complex structures may be the increased number of smells that ants can discern. A team of scientists, led by Lawrence Zwiebel and his research team at Vanderbilt, recently completed the first full map...

John Neumann for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A brave team of researchers led by Canadian Gregg Adams from the University of Saskatchewan have discovered a protein in semen that acts on the brains of females prompting ovulation, and is the same molecule that regulates the growth, maintenance, and survival of nerve cells, reports e! Science News. The international team of researchers found that male mammals have accessory sex glands that contribute seminal fluid to semen, but the...

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Because of a single gene mutation on the antenna of a male moth, he is able to receive a female moth’s Hail Mary pheromone pass from end zone-to-end zone even if she were to alter its scent. According to a report published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a team of researchers led by Montana State University entomologist Kevin Wanner identified the gene in male moths responsible for receiving...

Predatory beetles can detect the unique alarm signal released by ants that are under attack by parasitic flies, and the beetles use those overheard conversations to guide their search for safe egg-laying sites on coffee bushes. Azteca instabilis ants patrol coffee bushes and emit chemical alarm signals when they're under attack by phorid flies. In an article published online July 27 in the journal Ecology and Evolution, University of Michigan researchers and their colleagues show that...

Female sex odor makes cool males take flight too soon Talk about throwing yourself into a relationship too soon. A University of Utah study found that when a virgin male moth gets a whiff of female sex attractant, he's quicker to start shivering to warm up his flight muscles, and then takes off prematurely when he's still too cool for powerful flight. So his headlong rush to reach the female first may cost him the race. The study illustrates the tradeoff between being quick to start...

Newly developed analytic device 'Flywalk' allows accurate studies of insect behavior to be made In collaboration with colleagues from Portugal and Spain, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, have developed an apparatus that automatically applies odors to an airstream, while filming and analyzing the behavior of insects simultaneously. The system is called Flywalk and consists of glass tubes, airstream regulators, and a video camera. The reactions...

Due to high demand, BedBugSupply.com is taking pre-orders for the highly anticipated April 27 release of the Verifi Bed Bug Detector. (PRWEB) April 12, 2012 The Verifi Bed Bug Detector, one of the most exciting active bed bug monitors to hit the market in recent memory, was scheduled to be available for purchase beginning April 27, but Bed Bug Supply has announced that it is now taking pre-orders for the device. Bed Bug Supply is making the Verifi Bed Bug Detector units available for...

How are 100 billion cells created, each with specific duties? The human brain is evidence that nature can achieve this. Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have now taken a step closer to solving this mystery. "Knowledge about the mechanisms that diversify neurons and keep them diverse is necessary in order to cultivate and replace nerve cells in the future," says Mattias Alenius, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, who has published his research breakthrough in the current...

Aging takes its toll on sex appeal and now an international team of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Michigan find that in fruit flies, at least, it even diminishes the come-hither effect of the chemicals of love – pheromones. "This is new because we have direct evidence that the pheromones produced at these different ages affect sexual attractiveness differently," said Tsung-Han Kuo, a graduate student in the department of molecular and human genetics...

Male flies find romance with female flies coated with pheromone, regardless of age; U-M, international research sheds light on aging process ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Beauty is more than skin deep, at least for fruit flies studied in new research that demonstrates how age-related changes in pheromone production can reduce sexual attractiveness. The study, published today in The Journal of Experimental Biology, examined how pheromones play a role...