BIOL3046 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Mating Plug, Body Roll, Female Sperm Storage
5 Jul 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Animal Behaviour BIOL3046 460381099
Lecture 24: Dr Christopher R Friesen.
The sex lives of garter snakes:
They are a great model system as there is a large sample size, they are robust, small,
harmless and non-venomous.
They find sink holes, find den site, and really cold (-45ºC). Need to go into the earth to make
sure they don’t freeze. They then come out of the ground during spring/summer.
They gather resources throughout the summer, and do this all again. Males make sperm
during summer, but the females mate during the spring. Thus, peak spermiogenesis is
mismatched to mating time. How does this make evolutionary sense? Summer provides an
appropriate amount of resources to making sperm, this is then stored until the next spring?
How might this affect the evolutionary interests of females? What might be some of the
benefits of long-term sperm storage for females? How might this affect the evolutionary
interests of the males?
How do males locate a female? Pheromones: tongue flickers the top of the females head,
rub it across top of mouth and this chemical cue goes to the special organ. Similar to
hexane.
Female mimics: some males produce the female pheromone. Tries to court himself, as he
senses that there is a ‘female’ there.
Do females control copulation? Body roll minimises plug deposition.
Do males control copulation? Basal spine and copulatory plug.
Copulatory plug is produced in the kidneys of males. So is kidney function compromised?
Document Summary
They are a great model system as there is a large sample size, they are robust, small, harmless and non-venomous. They find sink holes, find den site, and really cold (-45 c). Need to go into the earth to make sure they do(cid:374)(cid:859)t freeze. They the(cid:374) co(cid:373)e out of the ground during spring/summer. They gather resources throughout the summer, and do this all again. Males make sperm during summer, but the females mate during the spring. Thus, peak spermiogenesis is mismatched to mating time. Pheromones: tongue flickers the top of the females head, rub it across top of mouth and this chemical cue goes to the special organ. Female mimics: some males produce the female pheromone. Tries to court himself, as he se(cid:374)ses that there is a (cid:858)fe(cid:373)ale(cid:859) there. Copulatory plug is produced in the kidneys of males.
