Article: A Fear of Pheromones

In the article, “A Fear of Pheromones,” animals are not the only organisms that can release odors; humans can as well. Some chemical odors can either confuse or attract other organisms to each other. After reading through the ecology chapters, chemical odors are sometimes used to tell other organisms around the same vicinity a warning that predators are near and to find safety quickly. According to this article, pheromones are small, simple molecules that are active in extremely small concentrations. A neighboring territory could possibly smell the scent of the odor and react to it quickly. The odors can also have a “fragrance of ambiguity”. An example is the female moth; if it releases bombykol, that single molecule can tremble the hairs of any males relatively far within miles, causing that male to become confused. Another example is when the female monkeys respond to the estradiol released by the male primates. Other than causing the organisms to become confused, pheromones can help organisms identify what type of species the organisms is. An example is that fishes make use of chemical signals for identifying individual members of a species and announcing the changes in the statuses of certain individuals. Although there is not much information about humans being involved with pheromones until recently, I agree with this article because it states important key facts. I believe that humans can communicate and react with each other based on their pheromones. Just like the example given in the article where the dog is able to sniff out their owner shows that we humans release a scent which allows the animals to recognize their owner. In our world, there are females who sprays an excessive amount of perfume on and males who sprays axe on themselves. The scent disperses and individuals near the person may tend to walk away because the scent is so strong that it is unbearable, or walk towards it because the scent is fragrant.