The first pheromone ever identified in 1956 was a powerful sex attractant for silkworm moths. A team of German researchers worked 20 years to isolate it. After removing certain glands at the tip of the abdomen of 500,000 female moths, they extracted a curious compound. The minutest amount of it made male moths beat their wings madly in a "flutter dance." This clear sign that the males had sensed the attractant enabled the scientists to purify the pheromone. Step by step, they removed extraneous matter and sharply reduced the amount of attractant needed to provoke the flutter dance.
When at last they obtained a chemically pure pheromone, they named it "bombykol" for the silkworm moth, "Bombyx mori" from which it was extracted. It signaled, "come to me!" from great distances. If a single female moth were to release all the bombykol in her sac in a single spray, all at once, she could theoretically attract a trillion males in the instant.
In dealing with mammals, however, scientists faced an entirely different problem. Compared to insects, whose behavior is stereotyped and highly predictable, mammals are independent, ornery, complex creatures. Their behavior varies greatly, and its meaning is not always clear.
Throughout the animal kingdom, it was well known by 1979 that females emit sex attractants that cause males of the same species to approach. Animal pheromones were so well understood, by the late 70's, that manufacturers were marketing them as pest controls; pheromones were used to lure and divert animals and bugs to traps to prevent crop and flower damage.
When at last they obtained a chemically pure pheromone, they named it "bombykol" for the silkworm moth, "Bombyx mori" from which it was extracted. It signaled, "come to me!" from great distances. If a single female moth were to release all the bombykol in her sac in a single spray, all at once, she could theoretically attract a trillion males in the instant.
In dealing with mammals, however, scientists faced an entirely different problem. Compared to insects, whose behavior is stereotyped and highly predictable, mammals are independent, ornery, complex creatures. Their behavior varies greatly, and its meaning is not always clear.
Throughout the animal kingdom, it was well known by 1979 that females emit sex attractants that cause males of the same species to approach. Animal pheromones were so well understood, by the late 70's, that manufacturers were marketing them as pest controls; pheromones were used to lure and divert animals and bugs to traps to prevent crop and flower damage.
The discovery of human sex pheromones appeared in front page stories internationally including publication in scientific journals in 1986. It provided the proof that women and men emitted pheromones into the atmosphere and showed that extracted pheromones could be collected, frozen for over a year, thawed and then applied on the upper lip of recipients to mimic some of the pheromonal effects found in nature.
If the popularity of pheromone based commercial products continues, they may develop to the point where they accurately imitate the effects of natural human pheromones, possibly even able to influence the behavior of those other than the users of the products. There is something inherently spooky about the idea that our behavior can be influenced by sensory input we have no idea we are even receiving. Women seem to be more sensitive to pheromonal messages.
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