HOME

PRODUCTS

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

WHO WE ARE

CONTACT US

PHEROMONES CLASSIFICATION.

    Pheromones are sweet-smelling chemical substances secreted by animals, people or plants, which cause certain answers in mating, development or behavior of other members of that species. Evidence of pheromones were found both in vertebrates and invertebrates. There are several classifications of the pheromones emitted by living beings:

• Social organization pheromones - transmitted by digestive tracks (mouth or anus). This transmission is called Trofalaxis. By means of these pheromones information is transmitted, such as where the food is, where there is a danger and also the societies the species are organized in. Bees use these pheromones to identify the needs of the queen.

The insects smell the pheromone by means of their antennae.

• Caste pheromones. Generally used by insects like ants and bees, during the development process of these species; there are different castes according to the provided food. Female workers tend to feed larvae with this pheromone, according to what the nest needs. If they bring the pheromone for 2 or 3 days, from that larva will emerge a female worker, whereas if they provide it for 5 days, it emerges a soldier, and if it is for more than 12 days, a princess. In all cases they are females, but in the case of the  female worker and the soldier, the gonads are atrophied. In this case males are produced through the non-fertilization of the egg.

• Track marker pheromones. When an ant or a group find food, they leave a trace for the others to come to the same food source. Ants mark the trace on the ground using the glands in the abdomen.

• Social gathering pheromones. The colonies or nests where the animals live have their own characteristic smell, just like the individuals that live there. An intruder individual would be quickly recognized by its smell.

The pheromones are synthesized in the laboratory to attract the insects.

• Alarm pheromones. Using the smell they can quickly warn of an enemy presence. Just after that a general alarm is activated. The glands that emit pheromones in these insects are  situated in the abdomen and shoot pheromones in high concentrations that remain in the air, in this way warning the rest of the colony.

• Sexual pheromones. The females, during the nuptial flight, produce attraction odors for males to help meeting them and copulate.
   

If you want to read our other articles on pheromone and pine processionary traps as well as some curiosities on these insects, 

click below.