Pheromones work at minute concentrations and can be released from special glands, or simply discharged from the body in perspiration, urine, or faeces. They function as a chemical signalling system, of particular importance in the life of insects.
Pheromones play a very important part in the sexual behaviour of many animals.
Other functions of pheromones include territory marking, trail marking in ants, and alarm signalling, particularly in fish and tadpoles. Similar scents designed to have effects on other species of animal are called allomones. Because they are highly specific, pheromones lack the damaging side-effects of insecticides. The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology 2. hormone Dictionary of Biology, Oxford University Press 3. All rights reserved.