| 释义 |
pheromone Biol.|ˈfɛrəʊməʊn|
[f. Gr. ϕέρ-ειν to convey + -o + ὁρµῶν, pres. pple. of ὁρµᾶν to set in motion, urge on (after hormone).]
Any substance that is secreted and released by an animal (usu. in minute amounts) and causes a specific response when detected by another animal of the same (or a closely related) species.
1959Karlson & Lüscher in Nature 3 Jan. 55/2 We propose..the designation ‘pheromone’ for this group of active substances... Pheromones are defined as substances which are secreted to the outside by an individual and received by a second individual of the same species, in which they release a specific reaction, for example, a definite behaviour or a developmental process... Having stated that pheromones act on individuals of the same species, they must be differentiated from other stimulating substances, like..scents of flowers and insect repellents... Strict species-specificity is not required; certain overlaps between closely related species may occur. 1962New Scientist 19 Apr. 86/2 The queen substance of honey⁓bees, which inhibits ovary development and profoundly affects behaviour in workers, is a pheromone; and pheromones of various kinds are supposed to affect caste differentiation and colony structure in termites. 1965Listener 14 Jan. 57/2 Our observation of ant colonies..has led us to believe that as few as ten pheromones, transmitted singly or in combination, might suffice for the total organization of ant society. 1971Nature 17 Dec. 415/2 We now describe a case in which male attraction to females of the same species is inhibited by a pheromone emitted from females of a closely related species. Our tests were conducted with the Indian meal moth Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) and the almond moth Cadra cautella (Walker), both phycitid species. 1973H. O. Box Organisation in Animal Communities viii. 200 Examples..include the blocking of pregnancy in the females of some strains of mice by a pheromone in the urine of a strange male mouse. 1975D. S. Hill Agric. Insect Pests of Tropics iii. 23 Behavioural control with several types of pheromone may be possible, but attention has been focused on pheromones causing aggregation for mating, feeding or oviposition. 1977Sci. Amer. May 104/3 It now appears that certain insects take chemicals from the plants they eat, store the chemicals and later emit them for defense, as ‘aggregation pheromones’ or perhaps as sex attractants.
Hence pheroˈmonal a., of, pertaining to, or being a pheromone or pheromones.
1959Ann. Rev. Entomol. IV. 39 Pheromonal secretion need not occur in definite glands (though that is the case normally). 1971New Scientist 25 Feb. 413/1 Much of this would be speculation alone if research had not produced an intriguing instance of human communication which might just possibly prove to be pheromonal. Recently, Dr Martha McClintock of Harvard..has investigated the menstrual cycles of women students in a hall of residence... Her investigation threw up the bizarre observation that, precisely as in mice, the cycles of close friends..fall into synchrony. 1971Nature 16 Apr. 432/1 Odour fingerprinting techniques and gas chromatography now make the detection and preparation of human pheromonal agents feasible if they exist. 1975Sci. Amer. May 59/1 The physiological causes, possibly pheromonal ones, for the synchrony of births remain to be determined, and it will not be easy to determine them with lions in the wild. |