a question on sexual pheromones

[egoldstein]

11 hours ago, Ara said:




accidentally matching interspecies sexual pheromone

I'm nowhere close to being an expert on the matter, but it is my understanding that there's not a lot of overlap in regard to pheromones; they tend to be pretty species specific otherwise they become far less effective. For example, a dog who's pheromones draw in cats and bears wont be nearly as successful as as a dog who's pheromones draw in only dogs and perhaps very close relatives who's chemical signals haven't diverged much.




Given, some evolve compatability with pheromones or other signaling for different reasons, such as with the lightning bugs Photinus and Photuris; where Photuris females mimic Photinus signals to lure in males which they eat (and absord a toxin from, thereby becoming toxic themselves).