Pheromone blend complexity in heliothine moths

昆虫，尤其是飞蛾，严重依赖性信息素作为一种基于气味的交流手段来吸引异性。到目前为止，已经鉴定出了数千种性信息素，每个物种都有自己独特的化学混合物来吸引配偶（通常是由雌性产生的，以吸引同一物种的雄性）。因此，信息素的组成具有令人难以置信的多样性，但随着新物种的进化和分化，人们对这些化学物质的生产、检测和偏好的进化和变化了解甚少。这就引出了一个问题，“为什么会有这么多独特的信息素混合物？”

Insects, and particularly moths, rely heavily on sex pheromones as a means of odor-based communication to draw together opposite sexes. To date, thousands of sex pheromones have been identified, with each species having its own unique blend of chemicals which will attract a mate (typically produced by females to attract males of the same species). As such, there is incredible diversity in pheromone composition, but a poor understanding of the evolution and shifts in production, detection and preference of these chemicals as new species evolve and diverge from one another. This begs the question, “why are there so many unique pheromone blends?”