The differential impact of air pollution on insect chemical communication

Abstract Airborne chemical communication is vital for insect survival and reproduction, yet its vulnerability to anthropogenic air pollution is poorly understood. We investigate how the physicochemical properties of alarm and sex pheromones influence their atmospheric persistence under pristine and polluted conditions. Using a volatility basis set framework, we show that alarm pheromones—small, volatile, and chemically simple—remain in the gas phase with lifetimes largely unaffected by pollution