Chemical communication

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using chemicals to transmit signals, compared to the use of sound and of light? (due Monday, 2/5, 4pm, in Edelman's mailbox in Uris Hall).

• Mating strategies in butterflies (Ronald L. Rutowski, Scientific American).
• A male silkworm moth (Bombyx mori) follows an odor trail to a female: an animation.
• Mapping the Protein Universe, Liisa Holm and Chris Sander, Science 273:595 (1996).
• The Quipu.