Females use silkworm moth pheromones to attack mates. Note that in the case of the silkworm moth, the effects of its pheromones could reach up to 6.2 miles. Since the attraction of the pheromones released by the female silkworm moth reaches very far, more often than not, male silkworms that are within that radius would start to migrate into the area near the female.

What is really very interesting about silkworm moth pheromones being released by either the female or the male silkworm is that scientists found out that it carries with it some genetic coding which will allow the male or the female silkworm to determine if they come from the same genotype. This genetic coding of the pheromones released will serve as guide for the males as to where they will go to the female and mate or not.

Learning from the Silkworm Moth Pheromones

Butenandt’s research on silkworm moth pheromones and how they attract their mates inspired many scientists to expand the study of the silkworm moth pheromones and apply it to other species. According to the theory, if the silkworm moth pheromones can facilitate mating in the case of the silkworm moths, there is a big possibility that other forms of species also utilize such forms of attraction.

As a result, pheromones are now being used commercially to help breed other forms of animals successfully. In many modern day farms all over the world, the use of pheromones are very common. In hog farms, the cells of the boars are sprayed with female pheromones to help the boar become sexually aroused and ready for breeding.

Will these lessons learned from the silkworm moth pheromones soon be used on human beings? According to experts, there are always some possibilities that technologies related to this will soon be developed for humans too. In fact, according to some experts, the scents of perfumes being used by human beings today are generally inspired by the concept of male and female attraction.