Pheromones terminology

The terminology used in this research area is not well established in the chemical community while the term pheromone is widely known, semio-chemical is not. Nevertheless, chemicals used in the communication between individuals are correctly called semiochemicals recently the equivalent term infochemicals was introduced. These compounds can be further divided into pheromones, compounds used in communication between individuals of the same species, while allelochemicals serve interspecific communication. Most pheromones are releasers, i.e. they provoke a behavioral change in the receiver. More rare are primers, which provoke physiological changes. Allelochemicals can be divided into kairomones, which are advantageous for the receiver, while the emitter benefits from allomones. Synomones are advantageous for both the emitter and the receiver. 

Lepidopterous sex pheromones, particularly those produced by female moths, have been primarily determined to be unsaturated normal aliphatic alcohols, esters, or aldehydes (3, 1 , 71). In the present review, emphasis will be placed on the sex pheromones that either are structurally distinctive or representative of the general classes of compounds that are identified with lepidopterous species. Notwithstanding the terminological inexactitude that characterizes the research on lepidopterous exocrine products (72), these compounds will be referred to as sex attractants or pheromones unless otherwise indicated. 

Kirschenblatt, J., 1962. Terminology of some biologically active substances and validity of the term pheromone . Nature, 195 916—917. 

In this chapter, we review the ways whereby lobsters chemically communicate with each other and the contexts in which they do it. We make a distinction between different types of chemicals. Based on the terminology of Wyatt (Chap. 2), we use semiochemicals as chemicals involved in animal interactions and pheromones as a subset of semiochemicals used in intraspecific contexts. We also use cues as chemicals that benefit the receiver and not necessarily the sender, with a prime example being alarm cues released in the blood of injured conspecifics. 

In previous reviews we have loosely termed hormonally-derived olfactory stimuli hormonal pheromones, without considering that in many cases they are likely to be components of more complex mixtures with extended evolutionary histories. There has been the potential for confusion about how a pheromone should be defined. Accordingly, our first goal in this paper is to clarify terminology. 

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