How Long Will Newts Wait? an Experiment To Test an Assumption of a Causal Model of the Courtship of the Male Smooth Newt, Triturus V. Vulgaris

Behaviour ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 116 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 278-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.I. Houston ◽  
T.R. Halliday
Keyword(s):  
Critical Point ◽  
Causal Model ◽  
Courtship Behaviour ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Smooth Newt ◽  
High Level

AbstractThe NEWTSEX model simulates the behavioural transition between two parts of newt courtship, Retreat Display and Creep, and models the interaction between four causal factors: the behaviour of the female, the male's spermatophore supply, his need for oxygen, and feedback from the male's own behaviour. The model predicts that, if feedback from the female is witheld at a critical point (Tail-touch), the male will revert from Creep to Retreat Display after an interval, the duration of which is proportional to his spermatophore supply. The results of an experiment in which the female's behaviour was controlled support this prediction, but a high level of variance in the results suggests that respiratory constraints on male courtship behaviour require further investigation.

EFFECTS OF HYPOTHALAMIC IMPLANTS OF GONADAL STEROIDS ON COURTSHIP BEHAVIOUR IN BARBARY DOVES (STREPTOPELIA RISORIA)

1971 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. HUTCHISON
Keyword(s):  
Testosterone Propionate ◽  
Posterior Hypothalamus ◽  
Gonadal Steroids ◽  
Courtship Behaviour ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Courtship Display ◽  
Single Crystalline ◽  
Streptopelia Risoria ◽  
Lateral Hypothalamic ◽  
The Brain

SUMMARY To determine whether the display of male courtship behaviour depends on the action of androgen on discrete areas of the brain, single crystalline implants of testosterone propionate (TP) (mean weight 40 μg) were positioned unilaterally in the brains of castrated male Barbary doves. Implants in the preoptic, anterior hypothalamic and lateral hypothalamic areas induced the full courtship display consisting of chasing, bowing and nestsoliciting. None of these behaviour patterns was re-established at precastration levels measured in terms of duration of display. Durations of courtship displayed by implanted males were similar to those induced by daily intramuscular injections of TP (300 μg/day × 15) into castrated birds. The effectiveness of implants of TP into other regions of the brain could be related to their proximity to the preoptic and anterior hypothalamic regions. There were marked deficits in the pattern of courtship of castrated doves with implants in areas adjacent to the preoptic and anterior hypothalamic regions — the neostriatum intermediale, the area basalis, and posterior hypothalamus; implants more distantly placed in the paleostriatum primitivum and lateral forebrain bundle area did not induce courtship behaviour. Cholesterol implants (59 μg) and blank implant tubing in the preoptic and anterior hypothalamic areas did not affect behaviour. The results obtained were not specific for TP implants; chasing and nest-soliciting displays were also induced by either testosterone implants (51 μg) or oestradiol-17β monobenzoate implants (47 μg). In both cases, the courtship display lacked bowing. It is concluded that the preoptic and anterior hypothalamic areas are directly sensitive to testosterone and that these areas are associated with the control of courtship behaviour.

scholarly journals Courtship behaviour influences social partner choice in male guppies

Behaviour ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 157 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 923-947
Author(s):  
Heather L. Auld ◽  
Jean-Guy J. Godin
Keyword(s):  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Partner Choice ◽  
Courtship Behaviour ◽  
Social Partner ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Association Preference ◽  
Social Associations ◽  
Courtship Displays ◽  
Social Association

Abstract Although male courtship displays have evolved primarily to sexually attract females, they also generate inadvertent public information that potentially reveals the courter’s relative sexual attractiveness and the perceived quality and sexual receptivity of the female being courted to nearby eavesdropping male competitors, who in turn may use this information to bias their social partner choices. We tested this hypothesis by first presenting individual eavesdropping male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) the opportunity to simultaneously observe two demonstrator males whose courtship behaviour was manipulated experimentally to differ, following which we tested them for their preference to associate socially with either demonstrator males. Test males preferentially associated with the demonstrator male who they had previously observed courting a female over the other (non-courting) demonstrator. This social association preference was not expressed in the absence of a female to court. Our findings highlight the potential for sexual behaviour influencing male-male social associations in nature.

Male courtship displays and vocal communication in the polygynous bat Carollia perspicillata

Behaviour ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 151 (6) ◽  
pp. 781-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjam Knörnschild ◽  
Marion Feifel ◽  
Elisabeth K.V. Kalko
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Mate Recognition ◽  
Courtship Behaviour ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Courtship Display ◽  
Carollia Perspicillata ◽  
Fruit Bat ◽  
Distress Calls ◽  
Individual Signature ◽  
Courtship Displays

Male courtship behaviour towards choosy females often comprises elaborate displays that address multiple sensory channels. In bats, detailed quantitative descriptions of multimodal courtship displays are still fairly scarce, despite the taxon’s speciose nature. We studied male courtship behaviour in a polygynous Neotropical bat, Seba’s short-tailed fruit bat Carollia perspicillata, by monitoring harem males in a captive colony. Courting male C. perspicillata performed stereotypic tactile, visual and acoustic displays. A courtship sequence, directed at one female at a time, lasted up to 120 s. During courtship, males approached females by brachiating or flying, hovered in front of them, pursued them on the wing, sniffed them and repeatedly poked the females with one or both folded wings; the latter behaviour was the most conspicuous male courtship display. Immediately before copulation, males wrapped their wings around the females and bit their necks. As acoustic display, courting male C. perspicillata produced highly variable, monosyllabic courtship trills. The species’ vocal repertoire consisted of ten different social vocalisation types, three for benign interactions (courtship trills, wobbles, isolation calls), four for aggressive encounters (aggressive trills, down-sweeps, warbles, distress calls) and the remaining three for unknown behavioural contexts (V-shaped calls, flat down-sweeps, hooks). Courtship trills and aggressive trills were exclusively produced by males. We measured 245 courtship trills of five males and found statistical evidence for a strong individual signature which has the potential to facilitate female choice, mate recognition or neighbour–stranger recognition among male competitors.

The Interaction of Endocrine and Experiential Factors in the Regulation of Sexual Behaviour in the Female Guppy Poecilia Reticulata

Behaviour ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 48 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 185-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.R. Liley ◽  
W. Wishlow
Keyword(s):  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Virgin Female ◽  
Standard Test ◽  
Ovarian Activity ◽  
Ovarian Hormone ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Rate Of Decline ◽  
High Level

Abstract1. A large proportion of virgin female guppies, Poecilia reticulata, are highly responsive when first placed with actively courting males. This responsiveness wanes over several days if a female is repeatedly exposed to male courtship in a standard test situation (15 mins./day on alternate days). The decline in response occurs even though copulation is prevented by presenting males which have been gonopodectomized (gonopodium removed). Many females become responsive again for a short period(s) some time after the initial period of receptivity at the start of testing. Examination of individual records of females tested for up to 6 weeks suggests that there are cycles in responsiveness which correspond closely to the 20-21 day cycle in receptivity demonstrated in nonvirgin fish (Liley, 1966). The data indicate that a virgin female is likely to be initially highly responsive whatever the stage of her endogenous cycle, hut after involvement in courtship a cycle in responsiveness becomes apparent. 2. Naive virgin females were highly responsive when first tested 2, 10 or 24 days after ovariectomy (Experiment 2). However in contrast to intact fish there was no reappearance of receptive behaviour after sexual activity observed at the start of testing had waned. 3. The rate of decline in responsiveness of naive virgin females is to some extent dependent upon the courtship testing regime (Experiment 3). Most females tested with gonopodectomized males for 20 minutes per day had become unresponsive by the 6th or 7th day; receptivity of females tested at 3 and 6 day intervals declined more slowly but eventually reached the same level as fish tested every day. Testing females with intact males on the first three days resulted in a more rapid drop in female responsiveness. Ovariectomized females were less responsive and their receptively waned more rapidly than intact females. 4. In experiment 4, an attempt was made to determine whether the high initial responsiveness of virgin females was due to the fact that they had been deprived of social stimulation provided by males. Virgin females were tested with gonopodectomized males on 8 consecutive days during which their receptivity declined to a low level. Females were then isolated from males individually or in groups for 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 weeks before being retested with gonopodectomized males. There was no recovery of responsiveness to a level typical of naive virgin fish in the previously isolated females. Any recovery of responsiveness which did occur was that which might be expected on the basis of each female having the potential to undergo a cycle in receptivity related to an endogenous cycle of approximately 20 days. 5. It is concluded that there is a cycle in receptivity in virgin females which reflects an endocrine cycle in ovarian activity. In addition naive fish show an initially high level of response which is not dependent on the immediate ovarian hormone state and masks the cycle regulated by the ovary. The responsiveness of naive fish habituates as a result of exposure to male courtship. It is suggested that the interaction between the decremental effects (habituation) induced by courtship and the incremental effects of ovarian hormone and short-term incremental effects of courtship may interact in a manner which adjust female receptivity to the social environment, terminating sexual responsiveness once insemination has occurred a number of times.

Plasticity in male courtship behaviour as a function of light intensity in guppies

2009 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 1757-1763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben B. Chapman ◽  
Lesley J. Morrell ◽  
Jens Krause
Keyword(s):  
Light Intensity ◽  
Courtship Behaviour ◽  
Male Courtship

scholarly journals Conservation of fruitless’ role as master regulator of male courtship behaviour from cockroaches to flies

2011 ◽  
Vol 221 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elke Clynen ◽  
Laura Ciudad ◽  
Xavier Bellés ◽  
Maria-Dolors Piulachs
Keyword(s):  
Courtship Behaviour ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Master Regulator

scholarly journals Effect of genes, social experience, and their interaction on the courtship behaviour of transgenic Drosophila males

2005 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICOLAS SVETEC ◽  
BENJAMIN HOUOT ◽  
JEAN-FRANÇOIS FERVEUR
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Adult Development ◽  
Strong Interaction ◽  
Social Experience ◽  
Courtship Behaviour ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Variable Effect ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
And Control ◽  
Transgenic Drosophila

Behaviour depends (a) on genes that specify the neural and non-neural elements involved in the perception of and responses to sensory stimuli and (b) on experience that can modulate the fine development of these elements. We exposed transgenic and control Drosophila melanogaster males, and their hybrids, to male siblings during adult development and measured the contribution of genes and of experience to their courtship behaviour. The transgene CheB42a specifically targets male gustatory sensillae and alters the perception of male inhibitory pheromones which leads to frequent male–male interactions. The age at which social experience occurred and the genotype of tester males induced a variable effect on the intensity of male homo- and heterosexual courtship. The strong interaction between the effects of genes and of social experience reveals the plasticity of the apparently stereotyped elements involved in male courtship behaviour. Finally, a high intensity of homosexual courtship was found only in males that simultaneously carried a mutation in their white gene and the CheB42a transgene.

Female vibration discourages male courtship behaviour in the Amarillo fish (Girardinichthys multiradiatus)

2013 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 163-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lourdes Martínez Medina ◽  
Constantino Macías Garcia ◽  
Amira Flores Urbina ◽  
Javier Manjarrez ◽  
Alejandro Moyaho
Keyword(s):  
Courtship Behaviour ◽  
Male Courtship

Environmental Stimuli Influence Oestrogen-Dependent Courtship Transitions and Brain Aromatase Activity in Male Ring Doves

Behaviour ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 133 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 199-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.E. Hutchison ◽  
G. Opromolla ◽  
J.B. Hutchison
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Development ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Courtship Behaviour ◽  
Aromatase Activity ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Brain Aromatase ◽  
Reproductive Cycles ◽  
Ring Doves ◽  
The Brain

AbstractIn paired ring doves, Streptopelia risoria, male and female reproductive behaviour undergoes a series of synchronised transitions. The duration of each phase depends on the reproductive development of the pair. This study examines the effect of the environment in which behaviour is shown on both oestrogen-dependent courtship transitions and formation of oestrogen in the brain. The structuring of the cage environment had an immediate effect on transitions in male courtship behaviour. Males which were tested with females in a cage environment with a perch and a nest bowl (complex cage) displayed significantly less aggressive courtship and more nest-orientated behaviour than males tested with females in a cage environment without perch or nest bowl (simple cage). The response of males, which showed aggressive and nest-orientated courtship behaviour, to reproductively advanced females (abdominal length 1.4-1.6 cm) about to lay eggs or females in earlier stages of reproductive development (abdominal length 0.8-1.1 cm) did not differ initially. On the eighth day of 15-min daily tests, there was, however, an increase in aggressive courtship to females with smaller abdomens. This result suggests that male aggressiveness is more likely when the male and female reproductive cycles are not synchronised. We also tested whether environmental factors and the male's hormonal condition, which affect male courtship interactions, influence the formation of behaviourally effective oestrogen by aromatisation of testosterone in the brain. The aromatase activity was measured in the preoptic and anterior hypothalamic areas in relation to the time spent in interaction with females each day. Both intact and castrated males which interacted intermittently (15 min each day for 9 days) had higher preoptic aromatase activity than males which interacted continuously with females. The males which had high brain aromatase activity and had interacted intermittently with females were considered to represent the initial stages of the cycle. We conclude that cage environment and female reproductive condition influence the course of courtship interactions. Oestrogen formation in the male brain is affected by the type of interaction.

scholarly journals A genetic screen for Drosophila social isolation mutants and analysis of sex pistol

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Eddison
Keyword(s):  
Social Isolation ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Genetic Screen ◽  
P Element ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Calcium Dependent ◽  
The Social ◽  
Socially Isolated ◽  
High Level

AbstractProlonged periods of forced social isolation is detrimental to well-being, yet we know little about which genes regulate susceptibility to its effects. In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, social isolation induces stark changes in behavior including increased aggression, locomotor activity, and resistance to ethanol sedation. To identify genes regulating sensitivity to isolation, I screened a collection of sixteen hundred P-element insertion lines for mutants with abnormal levels of all three isolation-induced behaviors. The screen identified three mutants whose affected genes are likely central to regulating the effects of isolation in flies. One mutant, sex pistol (sxp), became extremely aggressive and resistant to ethanol sedation when socially isolated. sxp also had a high level of male–male courtship. The mutation in sxp reduced the expression of two minor isoforms of the actin regulator hts (adducin), as well as mildly reducing expression of CalpA, a calcium-dependent protease. As a consequence, sxp also had increased expression of the insulin-like peptide, dILP5. Analysis of the social behavior of sxp suggests that these minor hts isoforms function to limit isolation-induced aggression, while chronically high levels of dILP5 increase male–male courtship.

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