Sex pheromones are intraspecific chemical signals that are crucial for mate attraction and discrimination. In Drosophila melanogaster, the predominant hydrocarbons on the cuticle of mature female and male flies are radically different and tend to stimulate or inhibit male courtship, respectively. This sexual difference depends largely upon the number of double bonds (one in males and two in fem...

Many aliphatic compounds having 12, 14, or 16 carbon atoms and one or two double bonds are known to function as “chemical messengers” be­ tween different sexes of the same insect species [1]. Saturation of a mating area with high concentrations of such a “pheromone” may be used to inhibit olfactory orientation between sexes. Moreover, by using sex attractant pheromones, certain insects may be d...

BACKGROUND Tuning of the olfactory system of male moths to conspecific female sex pheromones is crucial for correct species recognition; however, little is known about the genetic changes that drive speciation in this system. Moths of the genus Ostrinia are good models to elucidate this question, since significant differences in pheromone blends are observed within and among species. Odorant re...

Sex-specific pheromones are known to play an important role in butterfly courtship, and may influence both individual reproductive success and reproductive isolation between species. Extensive ecological, behavioural and genetic studies of Heliconius butterflies have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of speciation. Male pheromones, although long suspected to play an important...