Pheromones aphrodisiac

Briand L., Huet J., Perez V., Lenoir G., et al. (2000). Odorant and pheromone binding by aphrodisin, a hamster aphrodisiac protein. FEBS Letts 476, 179-185. 

Sachs, B. D. (1999). Airborne aphrodisiac odor from estrous rats implications for pheromonal classification. InAdvances in Chemical Signals in Vertebrates, vol. 8, ed. R. E. Johnston, D. Miiller-Schwarze, and P. W. Sorensen, pp. 333-342. New York Kluwer Academic-Plenum. 

Danaidone (25), which was first isolated from Lycorea ceres ceres (55) and Danaus gilippus berenice 59) by J. Meinwald et al., has been shown to act as an aphrodisiac pheromone necessary for successful courtship in D. gilippus berenice (57) and in D. chrysippus (56), since danaidone-lacking males have reduced courtship success 57,60). It seems likely that a similar role will be found for the closely related aldehydes, hydroxydanaidal (26) and danaidal (27). 

Morphology of the sternal and tergal glands producing the sexual pheromones and the aphrodisiacs among the cockroaches of the subfamily Oxyhaloinae. Journal... 

Aphrodisiac pheromones in insects. In Pheromones, ed. M.C. Birch, pp. 115-134. Amsterdam North-Holland. 

Carlson D. A., Langley P. A. and Huyton P. (1978) Sex pheromone of the tsetse fly isolation, identification and synthesis of contact aphrodisiacs. Science 201, 750-753. 

What kindled our interest in this area of research was the seminal paper by Brower et al. (1965) on the courtship of the queen butterfly, Danaus gilippus, and the motion picture that these investigators made of this behavior. Their data showed clearly that the two brush-like structures, or hairpencils, that the males ordinarily kept tucked away in their abdomen are in fact everted and splayed during courtship, and brushed against the female prior to copulation. Glandular in nature, the hairpencils seemed to function as an aphrodisiac device that effected its action chemically. But the nature of the presumed pheromone and its precise communicative significance remained unknown. 

Venard, R. and Jallon, J.-M. (1980). Evidence for an aphrodisiac pheromone of female Drosophila. Experientia, 36, 211-213. 

Male moths and butterflies have proven to be an especially rich source of interesting natural products. The sex pheromone produced in the wing glands of the lesser waxmoth, Achroia grisella, is composed of n-undecanal and (Zj-ll-octadecenal (98), whereas that of the greater waxmoth also contains n-undecanal (.99) but is dominated by n-nonanal (100). The scent brushes of male noctuid moths produce large amounts of aromatic compounds and terpenes which are believed to function as aphrodisiacs (101). Benzaldehyde, 2-phenyl ethanol, benzyl alcohol, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, pinocarvone, and isobutyric acid have been identified in the secretions of different noctuid species (102), and it appears that these pheromones may possess some chemotaxonomic value. 

Sachs BD (1999) Airborne aphrodisiac odor from estrous rats implication for pheromonal classification. In Johnston RE, Miiller-Schwarze D, Sorensen PW (eds) Advances in chemical signals in vertebrates. Plenum, New York, pp 333-342... 

Pheromones are important for higher level animals, as well. Dogs, cats, foxes, and other territorial mammals (Peters and Mech, 1975) use urine to mark the boundaries of their territories. Females use urine to attract males when they are in estrus (see Section 6.18). Whether pheromones play an aphrodisiac role for humans is still an open question. Human male sweat and other body odors are apparently attractive to the opposite sex, especially at certain times during the menstrual cycle. 

Singer, A. G., Macrides, F., Clancy, A. N., and Agosta, W. C 1986, Purification and analysis of a proteinaceous aphrodisiac pheromone from hamster vaginal discharge, y. Biol. Chem. 261 13323- 13326. 

Birch, M. D., 1974a, Aphrodisiac pheromones in insects, w "Pheromones,"... 

A number of insect pheromones are derived from fatty acid metabolism. These are liberated by the female insect to attract the male from a distance and to induce copulation when at close quarters. In other instances, the males liberate similar compoimds to attract the females. In human terms, these compounds are equivalent to aphrodisiacs. 

Insect sex pheromones have very simple structures like butyric acid, the aphrodisiac pheromone of the male moth Bapta temerata and valeric acid from Limonius californicus or more complex ones like peri-planone (118) one of the components of the sexual attractant of the American cockroach Periplaneta americana. 

Pheromones may be defined as substances produced by one member of a species which alter the behaviour pattern of other members of the species. Pheromones are found in most animal phyla and are used to assemble individuals, as sex attractants and aphrodisiacs, in marking territories, in group recognition and also to produce social and alarm associations. 

---