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<p>Displaying to attract mates often requires substantial energy investment and can increase the risk of eavesdropping from rivals and predators. To modulate the costs while maximizing the likelihood of attracting a mate, signalers are often attuned to social cues and adjust displays accordingly. Male Eastern Gray Treefrogs emit energetically expensive advertisement calls until a female approaches them and initiates amplexus (mating embrace). Females prefer longer calls and calls produced at higher rates, but males are energetically constrained from maximizing both call properties. Previous studies have shown that vocal performance is not maximized during the whole night, but only up-regulated during periods of male-male competition or in the last stage of courtship. In both contexts males increase call duration relative to baseline calling. Here we explore plasticity in calling behavior in another context - how males respond when the pair becomes separated. Across <i>within-male</i> (pre- and post- separation call data from same males) and <i>between-male</i> (calls from different sets of males) data sets we consistently found the same pattern: males decreased call duration, increased call rate, while maintaining vocal effort (duty cycle) relative to baseline calling. Control trials showed that those changes cannot be attributed to handling or differences in recording time. We suggest that males emphasize different call properties because initial courtship is best facilitated by the property females have the strongest preference for (call duration), while re-initiation of amplexus is best facilitated by allowing for fast female phonotaxis via frequent calls (increase call rate).</p>

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Where did she go? Changes in social context alter calling strategies of eastern gray treefrogs

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月6日

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  • Olivia S. Feagles,
  • Alexander A. Sweet,
  • Kane D. Stratman,
  • Madison A. Rittinger,
  • Angela M. E. Mish,
  • Luke Nicol,
  • Gerlinde Höbel

摘要

Displaying to attract mates often requires substantial energy investment and can increase the risk of eavesdropping from rivals and predators. To modulate the costs while maximizing the likelihood of attracting a mate, signalers are often attuned to social cues and adjust displays accordingly. Male Eastern Gray Treefrogs emit energetically expensive advertisement calls until a female approaches them and initiates amplexus (mating embrace). Females prefer longer calls and calls produced at higher rates, but males are energetically constrained from maximizing both call properties. Previous studies have shown that vocal performance is not maximized during the whole night, but only up-regulated during periods of male-male competition or in the last stage of courtship. In both contexts males increase call duration relative to baseline calling. Here we explore plasticity in calling behavior in another context - how males respond when the pair becomes separated. Across within-male (pre- and post- separation call data from same males) and between-male (calls from different sets of males) data sets we consistently found the same pattern: males decreased call duration, increased call rate, while maintaining vocal effort (duty cycle) relative to baseline calling. Control trials showed that those changes cannot be attributed to handling or differences in recording time. We suggest that males emphasize different call properties because initial courtship is best facilitated by the property females have the strongest preference for (call duration), while re-initiation of amplexus is best facilitated by allowing for fast female phonotaxis via frequent calls (increase call rate).