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Pheromones: Convergence and contrasts in insects and vertebrates

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Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 10

Conclusion

The individuals in animal societies interact via a complex web of semiochemical signals. Eusocial species of social insects and social mammals are characterized by reproductive division of labour. In some species, group members fight to establish which animals will reproduce. Other species use pheromones that act as signals rather than as coercion. The mechanisms used in social insects and in mammals have many similarities.

This paper is based upon Wyatt, TD (2003) Pheromones and Animal Behaviour: Communication by Smell and Taste. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and reproduced with permission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK

    Tristram D. Wyatt

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  1. Tristram D. Wyatt
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Robert T. Mason

  2. Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR, 97361, USA

    Michael P. LeMaster

  3. State University of New York, ESF 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA

    Dietland Müller-Schwarze

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Wyatt, T.D. (2005). Pheromones: Convergence and contrasts in insects and vertebrates. In: Mason, R.T., LeMaster, M.P., Müller-Schwarze, D. (eds) Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 10. Springer, Boston, MA . https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-25160-X_2

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