A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical substance that usually triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual of the same species for one or more behavioral responses.
Pheromones, unlike most other hormones are ectohormones - they act outside the body of the individual that is secreting them - they impact a behavior on another individual. Hormones usually only affect the individual that is secreting them. Pheromones can be secreted to trigger many types of behaviors, including: alarm; to follow a food trail; sexual arousal; to tell other female insects to lay their eggs elsewhere; to respect a territory; to bond (mother-baby); to back off.
Related Journals of Pheromone
Chemical Senses, Chemistry and Biology, Chemosensory Perception, Current Chemical Genomics.
