pheromone

Video of C. elegans from Wikipedia. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/CrawlingCelegans.gif A new study conducted by researchers at Northwestern University examined the costs of reproduction in roundworms, otherwise known as C. elegans. They discovered that male roundworms can send two kinds of pheromones that prime females for reproduction. One type of pheromone they studied sparks the onset of puberty in young female worms while the other prolongs fertility in aging females.  The problem is that these changes come at a cost as it shortens the lifespan of female…