11-''cis''-Vaccenyl acetate (cVA) is a volatile chemical compound that acts as a

pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...

in ''

Drosophila ''Drosophila'' () is a genus of flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or (less frequently) pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many speci ...

'' and at least one species of

longhorn beetle The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than ...

. It is the acetate

ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides a ...

of vaccenyl alcohol. The

odorant receptor Olfactory receptors (ORs), also known as odorant receptors, are chemoreceptors expressed in the cell membranes of olfactory receptor neurons and are responsible for the detection of odorants (for example, compounds that have an odor) which give ri ...

subunit Or67d was shown to be necessary for detection of cVA. Males that are mutant for Or67d start courting other males, whereas females that lack Or67d become less receptive towards males courting them. The

sensory neurons Sensory neurons, also known as afferent neurons, are neurons in the nervous system, that convert a specific type of stimulus, via their receptors, into action potentials or graded potentials. This process is called sensory transduction. The ...

expressing Or67d send projections to the

glomerulus ''Glomerulus'' () is a common term used in anatomy to describe globular structures of entwined vessels, fibers, or neurons. ''Glomerulus'' is the diminutive of the Latin ''glomus'', meaning "ball of yarn". ''Glomerulus'' may refer to: * the filter ...

DA1.Couto A, Alenius M, Dickson BJ.; Curr Biol. 2005 Sep 6;15(17):1535-47. DA1 is one of the three glomeruli that is bigger in males than in females. Moreover, the projection neurons that connect to DA1 have sexually dimorphic arborizations in the higher brain centers (esp. lateral horn).

References

{{Reflist A Ray, A Zunic, RL Alten, JS McElfresh, LM Hanks, JG Millar. 2011. J. Chem. Ecol. 37:173-178. Insect pheromones Acetate esters