title: An airborne sex pheromone in snakes.
abstract: Most reptile sex pheromones so far described are lipid molecules too large to diffuse through the air; instead, they are detected via direct contact (tongue-flicking) with another animal's body or substrate-deposited trails, using the vomeronasal system. The only non-lipid pheromone reported in snakes involves courtship termination in red-sided gartersnakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis): males that encounter copulatory fluids cease courtship, presumably reflecting the futility of courting an already-mating female. Our field experiments at a communal den in Manitoba show that this pheromone can work via olfaction: courtship is terminated by exposure to airborne scents from mating conspecifics, and does not require direct contact (tongue-flicking). Hence, the sexual behaviour of reptiles can be affected by airborne as well as substrate-bound pheromones.
authors: School of Biological Sciences A08, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia. rick.shine@sydney.edu.au
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Shine
authors: R T
authors: RT
authors: Mason
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017812:Colubridae / Q000502:physiology*; D003380:Courtship; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D055696:Olfactory Perception; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000502:physiology*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D012724:Sex Attractants