Hormonal control of male courtship behavior and female attractivity in the garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)
Crews, D.
Hormones and Behavior 7(4): 451-460
1976
ISSN/ISBN: 0018-506X PMID: 1017808 DOI: 10.1016/0018-506x(76)90016-7Document Number: 430740
Mating behavior in both intact and gonadectomized garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) was measured following hormone administration. Male courtship was androgen-dependent; subcutaneous implants of crystalline testosterone propionate (TP) pellets induced mating behavior within 2 days in both intact, reproductively inactive males and castrated males. Female attractivity, as measured by male courtship of the female, was stimulated by exogenous estrogen; 20 μg/day of estradiol benzoate (EB) was the minimum effective dose for stimulating female attractivity in both intact, reproductively inactive females and ovariectomized females. TP-implanted males selectively courted EB-primed females in both sequential and simultaneous (choice) mating tests. It is probable that males use estrogen-dependent olfactory cues produced by the females to discriminate between hormone- and vehicle-injected females.