Summary
This paper extends previously published observations of the sexual behavior of the redspotted newt. In encounters between single males and females, the male either performs a brief lateral, or ‘hula’, display or clasps the female and holds her in amplexus for as long as 3 h.
Experimental manipulation of the ambient sex ratio in an observation aquarium showed that the number of females available to a male did not influence his ‘decision’ whether to perform hula display or-attempt amplexus. In the presence of other males, a courting male showed a greater tendency to adopt the amplexus mode of courtship.
Males interfered with one another's attempts to court and inseminate females. Unpaired males tried to displace those engaged in amplexus, but were seldom successful. During the spermatophore deposition and transfer stage of both courtship modes, unpaired males mimicked female behavior, apparently in order to obtain inseminations. Hula courtships were the most vulnerable to this type of competition; multiple insemination of the female was occasionally observed.
The various costs and benefits associated with the various sexual strategies of male newts are discussed, together with some relevant ecological data. Similarly complex behavior in some other animals is also considered.
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Verrell, P.A. The influence of the ambient sex ratio and intermale competition on the sexual behavior of the red-spotted newt, Notophthalmus viridescens (Amphibia: Urodela: Salamandridae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 13, 307–313 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00299678
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00299678