AP Bio: Article 4 - A Fear of Pheromones

This article began by presenting the idea of humans using odors to communicate.  These odors, called pheromones, are used by many animals to communicate.  Examples that were given included the female moth's bombykol, a catfish recognizing the smell of a leader, and a bullhead identifying which way his rival was swimming.

However, humans do not use pheromones to communicate; instead we use things like the telephone, notes, invitations, and letters.  Recently, there have been studies done on why humans do not communicate with pheromones.  So far, it is shown that humans have the potential to do so, (such as schizophrenic patients having a certain odor in their sweat), and these kinds of studies continue as scientists try to find the answer to this question.


Sources:
The moth picture is from: http://www.itsnature.org/air/creepy-crawlies-air/bogong-moth/.
The catfish picture is from: http://www.starfish.ch/collection/benthicfishes.html.