Pheromones
Tami Kopperud
Catherine Miller
Jacqueline Sheppard
Definition:
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Chemicals produced and emitted by
animals and plants as messengers that
affect the behavior of other individuals of
the same species.
Derived from Greek words pherein, to
transfer and hormon, to excite.
Who uses them?
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Insects - Moths
Other Invertebrates – Spiders, Ants
Vertebrates – Mice, Goldfish
Other animals
What are the messages for?
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Finding a Mate
Taking Advantage of Food
Resources – Aggregation
Defense Against Predation
Social Behaviors
Foraging
Imported Red Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta)
 Uses a complex trail pheromone in order
to find food
 First ant on the scene finds food
 Releases pheromone to mark
the trail back to the nest
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Other ants find the trail and follow it to
the food source
Recruited ants leave a trail signal of their
own
Value of food source judged by number of
trails
Good food = Lots of trails
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The ant uses five
different pheromones:
4-heptanone
2-methyl 4 heptanone
6-methyl-5 heptene-2one
4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2pentanone
Iridodial
Iridomyrmecin
6-methyl-5 hepten-2-one
Prey Capture
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Some animals mimic
pheromones to trick prey
Bolas Spider (Mastophora
hutchinsoni) mimics the
mating pheromone of the
moth
When the male moth
searches for a suitable
female…
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The hungry spider is
waiting
No need to track
food, food comes to
you
The Bolas spider
mimics the sex
pheromone of two
different types of
moths
Mating
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Goldfish have no defined territories
Females spawn among vegetation
Males fight in order to get close enough to
fertilize the females’ eggs
Pheromones are chemicals emitted to
communicate reproductive readiness and
stimulate other behaviors
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Female goldfish release two
sets of pheromones ;
preovulatory and postovulatory
Male goldfish can discriminate
among the steroid components
of preovulatory pheromones
because each steroid elicits a
distinctive pattern of behavior
For 1720BP –low-level
behavioral effects which last
through exposure to the
steroid
For 1720BP-S –higher levels of
courtship were seen
For androstenedione –
aggressive behavior was seen
in males.
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According to a study by
Dr. Poling, males regulate
seminal fluid and sperm
production in response to
stimulatory pheromones
from ovulatory females,
but also in response to
unknown stimulatory and
inhibitory cues from male
competitors.
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Dr. Olsen from Uppsalla
University in Sweden has
shown the crucian carp (closely
related to the goldfish) share
the same system with
hormonal pheromones.
Salmon also release odors
which effect behavior, sex
hormone levels and sperm
volumes.
Dr. Olsen wants to see if
hormonal pheromones act as
barriers for hybridization
Social Behavior
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Mice use pheromones
for social and
reproductive behavior
The main pheromones
are 2-sec-butyl-4,5dihydrothiazole
and 3,4-dehydro-exobrevicomin
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MUPs
 Pheromones are excreted in urine from mice
bound to major urinary proteins (MUPs).
 MUPs are a group of semiochemical binding
proteins that carry the mouse pheromones.
 The MUP is made of a small protein and a ligand
with room in the middle for the pheromone
molecule.
 All parts of the MUP are considered to have
pheromonal affects.
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2-sec.butyl-4,5dihydrothiazole represents an
example of mouse
pheromones. The molecule
was found to bind to proteins
excreted into urine (major
urinary proteins).
Among approximately of a
dozen of major urinary
proteins, the protein classified
as MUP-I, is one of the most
abundant.
VNO
 Vomeronasal organ (VNO) contains
receptor sites to detect pheromones.
 Found in the nasal cavities of mice and
many other animals.
 VNO is anatomically and functionally
distinct from the olfactory system
Pheromones Modulate Social &
Reproductive Behavior in Mice
Social Behaviors
 Male vs. Male Aggression
 Nursing Female vs. Mice
Aggression
Navigation Aids
 A mouse sniffing at urine scent
"posts" left by another mouse.
The scent marks of male mice
appear to act as "scarecrows"
in the dark, when mice are
normally active.
Bibliography
Solenopsis invicta (Red Fire Ant)
http://animaldiversity.ummzy.umich.edu/accounts/
The trail pheromone of the Red Imported Fire Ant
www.zoo.utoronto.ca/zoo344s/groupe/
Chemical ecology in the red imported fire ant
www.colostate.edu/Depts/Entomology/courses/en570/papers_1998/weeks.html
Hubbard P.C., Barata E.N., and Canario A.V.M, Possible disruption of pheromonal communication
by humic acid in goldfish, Aquatic Toxicology, 60 (2002) 169-83.
Poling, K.R., Fraser E.J., and Sorenson, P.W., The three steroidal components of the goldfish
preovulatory pheromone signal evoke different behaviors, Comparative Biochemistry and
Physiology Part B 129(2001) 645-51.
Stacey N., Fraser E.J, Sorenson, P., Van Der Kraak, G., Milt production in goldfish: regulation by
multiple social stimuli, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C 130(2001) 467-76.
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http://www.semiochemica.org.uk/articles/elepbut4.html
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/isfe/abstracts/ISFE-ab4.20.00.1383.html
http://www-cru.slu.se/membind/Olsen_Hakan.htm
Bibliography cont.
www.brooklands.co.nz/gold/breeding.htm
www.geocities.com/RainForest/ 4076/index49.html
www.glasgowwestend.co.uk/ images/goldfish.jpg
http://www.hms.harvard.edu/news/releases/897pheromone.html
http://www.rockefeller.edu/pubinfo/090402
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/Pheromones.html
http://www.hhmi.org/news/dulac.html
http://www.laurushealth.com/HealthNews/reuters/NewsStory0904200211.htm
http://www.tau.ac.il/lifesci/courses/chemical_communication/shkafim06.pdf
http://www.semiochemica.org.uk/articles/WorkshopX.html