Female mimicry in garter snakes

Nature ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 316 (6023) ◽  
pp. 59-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert T. Mason ◽  
David Crews
Keyword(s):  
Garter Snakes ◽  
Female Mimicry

Female mimicry in garter snakes: behavioural tactics of "she-males" and the males that court them

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (8) ◽  
pp. 1391-1396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Shine ◽  
David O'Connor ◽  
Robert T Mason
Keyword(s):  
Time Of Day ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Thamnophis Sirtalis ◽  
Garter Snakes ◽  
Thermal Threshold ◽  
Male Attractiveness ◽  
Female Mimicry ◽  
Early Afternoon ◽  
Antipredator Responses ◽  
Locomotor Capacity

Red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) in central Manitoba court and mate in early spring soon after emerging from communal overwintering dens. Some males ("she-males") produce female-like skin pheromones, and hence attract courtship from other males. Studies at a den near Inwood, Manitoba, support and extend results from work at other dens. She-males were males that had recently emerged from hibernation and had not yet regained full locomotor capacity or muscle strength. She-males resembled "he-males" rather than females in their antipredator responses, including the thermal threshold at which they fled from a simulated predator (a plastic crow) rather than remaining stationary and displaying. Males courting she-males were cooler than those courting females; nonetheless they were more likely to flee when we approached them. Compared with courting groups focussed on females, groups around she-males were smaller, consisted predominantly of smaller he-males, and were found over a more restricted time of day (early afternoon). Arena trials confirmed that she-males are disproportionately courted by small rather than large he-males, and clarified other aspects of she-male attractiveness and behaviour. She-males attracted more intense courtship when large females were absent. She-males courted less vigorously when large he-males were present, especially when they were vigorously courted themselves. Overall, our data reveal hitherto-unsuspected complexity in the behavioural tactics of reproducing garter snakes.

Analysis of chemicals from earthworms and fish that elicit prey attack by ingestively naive garter snakes (Thamnophis)

1990 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred M. Schell ◽  
Gordon M. Burghardt ◽  
Adam Johnston ◽  
Christopher Coholich
Keyword(s):  
Garter Snakes

On the Mating Behavior of Free Garter Snakes Associated with Water

Copeia ◽  
1946 ◽  
Vol 1946 (4) ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
C. M. Breder
Keyword(s):  
Mating Behavior ◽  
Garter Snakes
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