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Humans have about five million scent cells, while wolves have 200 million. The olfactory center in a human’s brain is the size of a pea, while a wolf’s is the size of a fist. Wolves can smell other animals from more than a mile away, using pheromones to gather information about that animal. A wolf can recognize a member of their pack just by scent. Their specialized scent glands are as unique as a human’s fingerprint.
— Read more in What makes sense to a wolf at Pikes Peak Courier.
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However, even after knocking out an entire family of odor-sensing receptors from the mosquito genome, mosquitoes still find a way to bite us. Now, a group of researchers, publishing in the journal Cell on August 18, found that mosquitoes have evolved redundant fail-safes in their olfactory system that make sure they can always smell our scents.
— Read more in Mosquitoes have neuronal fail-safes to make sure they can always smell humans at Science Daily.
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Acetophenone is a naturally occurring fragrant substance with a sweet, floral scent that is found in a number of perfumes. According to the Fragrance Conservatory, “different industries and manufacturers may use different names for the same ingredient.”
You can find acetophenone on labels with names like acetylbenzol, ethanone, and 1-phenylethanone. But no matter what name this perfume ingredient goes by, it’s going to attract mosquitoes.
— Read more in This One Perfume Ingredient Might Be The Reason You’re A Mosquito Magnet at Suggest.
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An international team of researchers has discovered an incredible way some viruses can alter the smell of their host in order to attract mosquitoes and spread to the next person. The study revealed Dengue and Zika viruses can alter a host’s skin microbiome to enhance the volume of odor molecules that draw in mosquitoes.
— Read more in How viruses can change your body odor to attract mosquitoes at New Atlas.
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[University of Sydney ecologist Catherine] Price and her team ground-tested her theory, literally, by putting a chicken scent in Vaseline and spreading it across thousand-hectare sites where endangered shorebirds nested. Because the scent showed up before the birds, and because it was everywhere and so not a useful clue toward finding dinner, ferrets and stoats left the shorebird nests alone. Nest predation decreased more than 50 percent, an effect that lasted a month.
— Read more in What the nose doesn't know helps wildlife: Using olfactory cues to protect vulnerable species at ScienceDaily.