feromon

Feromon, in many languages including Turkish and several others, is the equivalent of the English term pheromone. A pheromone is a chemical substance released by an individual that influences the behavior or physiology of other members of the same species. The term was coined by Karlson and Lüscher in 1959, combining roots that roughly mean to carry a signal and to arouse a response. Pheromones can be classified by the type of effect they induce, including releaser pheromones, which trigger immediate behavioral actions, and primer pheromones, which cause longer-term physiological changes.

Most studied pheromones come from insects, especially social species such as ants, termites, and bees. Releaser pheromones coordinate collective activities like foraging, alarm, or trail following. Queen and brood pheromones help regulate reproduction and social structure within colonies. Sex pheromones attract mates over distances, sometimes triggering mating behavior. In mammals, pheromonal signaling also influences reproduction, social recognition, and mother–offspring interactions, though the exact sensory and neural pathways can vary; many pheromones are detected by the olfactory or vomeronasal systems.

Detection involves specialized receptors on sensory neurons that transduce chemical signals into neural activity, which then propagates through neural circuits to produce behavioral or physiological responses. The study of pheromones intersects chemical ecology, neurobiology, and agriculture, highlighting how chemical signals mediate social organization and reproduction.

Applications include pest management, where pheromone traps and mating disruption reduce crop damage, and ecological monitoring, where pheromone-based lures help track populations.