Male hamster investigatory and copulatory responses to vaginal discharge: an attempt to impart sexual significance to an arbitrary chemosensory stimulus.
Hamster vaginal discharge elicits intense genital investigation and facilitates overt copulatory behavior toward anesthetized males (female surrogates) whose hindquarters have been scented with this material. The ability of an arbitrary chemosensory stimulus to acquire behavioral activity like that of vaginal discharge through association with maternal stimuli and/or adult sexual experience was examined in male hamsters. Vanillin was used as the arbitrary stimulus because it is attractive to hamsters, is not likely to be a natural constituent of hamster scents, is not known to exert any adverse physiological effects, and is a subliming solid with an extremely long persistence when used as an artificial scent. The males were reared by vanillin-scented or control solvent (water)-scented foster mothers, and in adulthood were paired repeatedly with vanillin- or solvent-scented receptive females. Behavioral testing with scented surrogates was performed one week preceding, and again following, the sexual pairings. Rearing by vanillin-scented mothers modestly but significantly increased the amount of time sexually naive males spent investigating the hindquarters as compared to other body regions of vanillin-scented surrogates. However, neither neonatal nor adult interactions with vanillin-scented females imparted to this stimulus the capacity to facilitate overt copulatory behavior. Also, regardless of the males' exposure history, only vaginal discharge caused the males to direct their investigatory behavior predominantly toward the hindquarters. The characteristic investigatory and copulatory responses exhibited by male hamsters toward vaginal discharge thus do not appear to be readily developed toward arbitrary chemosensory stimuli associated with particular females to which the males have been exposed.
D000818:Animals; D001244:Association; D003307:Copulation / Q000502:physiology; D006224:Cricetinae; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D009812:Odorants; D010675:Pheromones / Q000502:physiology*; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000502:physiology*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D014621:Vagina / Q000502:physiology*
D010675:Pheromones; D012724:Sex Attractants