Fruit fly pheromones give recognition cues

TORONTO, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Canadian scientists say they've found eliminating certain fruit fly pheromones caused female flies to become sexually irresistible to both males and females.

"This is important not only from the point of view of understanding social dynamics, but it's also fundamental biology, because these pheromones provide recognition cues that facilitate reproductive behavior," said University of Toronto Assistant Professor Joel Levine, who led the study. "Lacking these chemical signals (pheromones) eliminated barriers to mating."

He said the study also showed males of other species were attracted to females who didn't have the pheromone signals, suggesting the elimination of specific pheromones eliminates a species barrier to mating.

"That means the same chemical signals and genes are underlying not only social behavior in groups, like courtship and mating, but also behavior between species," Levine said.

He stressed that while pheromones are also part of the human mating dance, the human cues for attraction are far more complex.

The study, funded by Swiss and Canadian grants, is reported in the journal Nature.