Although a flower's odor can be composed of hundreds of chemicals, a moth uses just a handful to recognize the flower.

It's like identifying a piece of music from hearing only the notes played by a few key instruments, said lead researcher Jeffrey A. Riffell.

[...] The finding provides insight into how the brain processes a specific smell from the sea of odors floating through the air.

— From How Moths Key Into Scent Of A Flower, about research conducted at the University of Arizona, at ScienceDaily.

A perfume may be developed for male kakapo in a bid to make them more attractive to the opposite sex of the endangered species.

This follows research into why some males of the native parrot have greater pulling power than others.

— From Kakapo perfume could get them breeding at stuff.co.nz.

Babies will smile when they catch the scent of vanilla, but a whiff of rotting meat will send them into fits. From people to mice and flies to worms, animals of all kinds are born with likes and dislikes thanks to the evolutionary wisdom collected in their genes. But new research shows that some preferences are still surprisingly flexible at even the most basic level - that of the sensory neuron itself - and that our nervous system may be even more adaptable than we thought.

— From Beyond recognizing odors, a single neuron controls reactions at News-Medical.net.

CATCHING the whiff of a nearby massacre has a strange effect on spider mites: it sends them straight to sleep.

Asked to rate the pleasantness of their dreams, those who had smelled roses recorded positive feelings while those who had sniffed rotten eggs reported a negative dream experience.

— Quotes are from The smell of death sends mites to sleep and Sweet smells make for sweet dreams, respectively, both from New Scientist.

Duke University researchers, using sophisticated machinery to analyze hundreds of chemical components in a ringtailed lemur's distinctive scent, have found that individual males are not only advertising their fitness for fatherhood, but also a bit about their family tree as well.

— From Primate's Scent Speaks Volumes About Who He Is at Medical News Today.