A new study led by scientists at Sweden’s Lund University has revealed that a single mutation in a moth gene can produce an entirely new scent. The research team believes the results could contribute to the tailored production of pheromones that could be used for pest control.
The scent of a female moth can be picked up by the male from several hundred feet away. The males are guided by sexual pheromones – naturally produced biological scent substances that produce a response in other organisms. Almost all of the 180,000 species of moths and butterflies communicate using specialized pheromones, each of which has a subtle scent difference that enables males to find females of their own species.
The Lund University researchers showed in previous studies that new species of moths can evolve because of changes in the female moths’ scent. This most recent study has revealed how these changes come about at the genetic level.
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