Salamander ochrophaeus

Male courtship pheromones can increase the receptivity of the female. In the plethodontid salamander Desmognathus ochrophaeus the male courts the female hy scraping her dorsum with his specialized premaxillary teeth and swahs the same area with secretion from the mental gland on his chin, amounting to an injection. In an experiment, filter paper with an extract from the excised mental glands of males was placed on the dorsum of females. These treated females mated 28% (59 minutes) sooner than controls (Houck and Reagan, 1990). 

Verrell, P. A., 1989, An experimental study of the behavioral basis of sexual isolation between two sympatric plethodontid salamanders, Desmognathus imitator and D. ochrophaeus. Ethology 80 274-282. 

Houck, L.D., Arnold, S.J. Thisted, R.A. 1985. A statistical study of mate choice sexual selection in a plethodontid salamander Desmognathus ochrophaeus. Evolution, 39, 370—386. 

Lutterschmidt, W., Marvin, G. Hutchison, V. 1994. Alarm response by a plethodontid salamander (Desmog-nathus ochrophaeus) cons,ipQc f c and heterospecific Schrekstoff . J. Chem. Eco., 20, 2751—2759. 

The only other experimental attempt to evaluate the effects of male courtship pheromones in salamanders is work conducted with the terrestrial plethodontid, Desmognathus ochrophaeus (Houck and Arnold, in prep.). Courtship interactions for this species (described above) involve pheromone delivery from the male s mental gland, and the probable use of premaxillary teeth to introduce this pheromone into the female s circulatory system. In their experiment, Houck and Arnold had three experimental male groups (1) Each male had its mental gland surgically removed, (2) Each... 

Houck, L. D., 1982, Male tail loss and courtship success in the plethodontid salamander Desmognathus ochrophaeus, J. Herpetol., 16 335. 

Labanick, G. M., 1983, Inheritance of the red-leg and red-cheek traits in the salamander Desmognathus ochrophaeus, Herpetologica, 30 114. 

Labanick, G. M., and Brandon, R. A., 1981, An experimental study of Batesian mimicry between the salamanders Plethodon jordani and Desmognathus ochrophaeus, J. Herpetol., 15 275. 

Tilley, S. G., and Hausman, J. S., 1976, Allozymic variation and occurrence of multiple inseminations in populations of the salamander Desmognathus ochrophaeus, Copeia, 1976 734. 

Table 1, Data summary from experiments designed to test for the presence of a unique, individual chemical marker among salamander eggs. OCH = ochrophaeus, FUS = fuscus, CS = nonspecific. 

Forester, D. C., 1979b, Homing to the nest by female mountain dusky salamanders (Desmognathus ochrophaeus) with comments on the sensory modalities essential to clutch recognition,... 

Forester, D. C., 1981, Parental care in the salamander Desmognathus ochrophaeus Female activity pattern and trophic behavior, Herpetol., 15 29. 

Forester, D. C., 1983, Duration of the brooding period in the mountain dusky salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus) and its influence on aggression toward conspecifics, Copeia 1983 1098. 

Lutterschmidt, W.I., G.A. Marvin V.H. Hutchinson. 1994. Alarm responses by apletho-dontid salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus) conspecific and heterospecifc Sch-reckstoff. J. Chem. Ecol. 20 2751-2759. 

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