Pheromonal regulation of male mouse ultrasonic courtship (Mus musculus).
Biochemicals from several sites on the body of female house mice (Mus musculus) were found to elicit 70-kHz ultrasonic calls from male mice. Experiment 1 demonstrated that an anaesthetized female wrapped in an odour-impermeable plastic bag elicited ultrasounds from males when either the front or rear of their body was left exposed. In experiment 2 cotton swabs rubbed on the face and cheeks of females but not from males elicited ultrasonic calls from males. The results of experiment 3 suggested that female vaginal odours also elicit calls. Experiments 4 and 5 demonstrated that males will also emit ultrasounds in response to female but not male urine. The source and chemical nature of this 'ultrasound-releasing pheromone' remain to be discovered.
D000818:Animals; D003380:Courtship; D005260:Female; D006799:Housing, Animal; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D010675:Pheromones / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D012903:Smell; D012919:Social Behavior; D014465:Ultrasonics; D014556:Urine; D014621:Vagina / Q000378:metabolism; D014828:Vocalization, Animal
D010675:Pheromones