Abstract
Reptiles are excellent models for vertebrate pheromone research because the initiation of many behaviors is dependent on pheromone production and expression (reviewed in Madison, 1977; Mason, 1992; Mason et al., 1998). For example, the reproductive success of snakes depends on the production and perception of specific sex pheromones (Noble, 1937; Gillingham and Dickinson, 1980; Andrén, 1986; Mason et al., 1989). In the absence of these pheromones, sexual behavior will not be initiated and mating will not occur.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aleksiuk, M., and Stewart, K. W., 1971, Seasonal changes in the body composition of the garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) at northern latitudes, Ecology 52: 485–490.
Andrén, C., 1986, Courtship, mating and agonistic behavior in a free-living population of adders, Vipera berus, Amphibia-Reptilia 7:353–383.
Attygalle, A. B., Schwarz, J., Vostrowsky, O., and Bestmann, H. J., 1986, Individual variation in the sex pheromone components of the false codling moth, Cryptophlebia leucotreta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), J. Naturforsch. 41:1077–1081.
Bradbury, J. W., and Vehrencamp, S. L., 1998, Principles of Animal Communication, Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, Massachusetts.
Camazine, B., Garstka, W., Tokarz, R., and Crews, D., 1980, Effects of castration and androgen replacement on male courtship behavior in the red-sided garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis), Horm. Behav. 7:451–460.
Cardé, R. T., and Baker, T. C., 1984, Sexual communication with pheromones, in: Chemical Ecology of Insects (W. J. Bell, and R. T. Cardé, eds.), Chapman and Hall, London, pp. 355–383.
Crews, D., 1976, Hormonal control of male courtship behavior and female attractivity in the garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis), Horm. Behav. 7:451–460.
Crews, D., 1985, Effects of early sex steroid hormone treatment on courtship behavior and sexual attractivity in the red-sided garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis, Physiol. Behav. 35:569–575.
Garstka, W., and Crews, D., 1981, Female sex pheromone in the skin and circulation of a garter snake, Science 214:681–683.
Gillingham, J. C., and Dickinson, J. A., 1980, Postural orientation during courtship in the eastern garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis, Behav. Neural Biol. 28:211–217.
Gregory, P. T., 1984, Communal denning in snakes, in: Vertebrate Ecology and Systematics — A Tribute to Henry S. Fitch (R. Seigel, L. Hunt, J. Knight, L. Malaret, and N. Zuschlag, eds.), University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, Kansas, pp. 57–75.
Hurd, H., and Parry, G., 1991, Metacestode-induced depression of the production of, and response to, sex pheromone in the intermediate host Tenebrio molitor, J. Invert. Path. 58:82–87.
Kubie, J. L., Vagvolgyi, A., and Halpern, M., 1978, The roles of the vomeronasal and olfactory systems in the courtship behavior of male snakes, J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol. 92:627–641.
Logier, E. B. S., and Toner, G. C., 1961, Checklist of amphibians and reptiles in Canada and Alaska, Royal Ontario Museum Contribution No. 53, University of Toronto Press, Toronto.
Madison, D. M., 1977, Chemical communication in amphibians and reptiles, in: Chemical Signals in Vertebrates (D. Müler-Schwarze, and M. M. Mozell, eds.), Plenum Press, New York, pp. 135–168.
Mason, R. T., 1992, Reptilian pheromones, in: Biology of the Reptilia, Volume 18 (C. Gans, and D. Crews, eds.), The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 115–216.
Mason, R. T., 1993, Chemical ecology of the red-sided garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis, Brain Behav. Evol. 41:261–268.
Mason, R. T., Chivers, D. P., Mathis, A., and Blaustein, A. R., 1998, Bioassay methods for amphibians and reptiles, in: Methods in Chemical Ecology, Volume 2 (K. F. Haynes, and J. G. Millar, eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norvell, Massachusetts, pp. 271–325.
Mason, R. T., Fales, H. M., Jones, T. H., Pannel, L. K., Chinn, J. W., and Crews, D., 1989, Sex pheromones in snakes, Science 245:290–293.
Mason, R. T., Jones, T. H., Fales, H. M., Pannell, L. K., and Crews, D., 1990, Characterization, synthesis, and behavioral responses to sex attractiveness pheromones of red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis), J. Chem. Ecol. 16:2353–2369.
Miller, J. R., and Roelofs, W. L., 1980, Individual variation in sex pheromone component ratios in two populations of the redbanded leafroller moth, Argyrotaenia velutinana, J. Chem. Ecol. 9:359–363.
Moore, F. L., Richardson, C., and Lowry, C. A., 2000, Sexual dimorphism in numbers of vasotocin- immunoreactive neurons in brain areas associated with reproductive behaviors in the roughskin newt, Gen. Comp. Endocr. 117:281–298.
Noble, G. K., 1937, The sense organs involved in the courtship of Storeria, Thamnophis, and other snakes, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 73:673–725.
Rossman, D. A., Ford, N. B., and Seigel, R. A., 1996, The Garter Snake: Evolution and Ecology, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma.
Schal, C., Gu, X., Burns, E. L., and Blomquist, G. J., 1994, Patterns of biosynthesis and accumulation of hydrocarbons and contact sex pheromone in the female German cockroach Blattella germanica, Arch., Insect Biochem. Physiol. 25:375–391.
Tillman, J. A., Seybold, S. J., Jurenda, R. A., and Blomquist, G. J., 1999, Insect pheromones - an overview of biosynthesis and endocrine regulation, Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 29:481–514.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
LeMaster, M.P., Mason, R.T. (2001). Annual and Seasonal Variation in the Female Sexual Attractiveness Pheromone of the Red-Sided Garter Snake, Thamnophis Sirtalis Parietalis . In: Marchlewska-Koj, A., Lepri, J.J., Müller-Schwarze, D. (eds) Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 9. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0671-3_50
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0671-3_50
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5187-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0671-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive