[An experimental study of the mechanisms of precopulatory isolation between 3 genetic forms of the house mouse in the genus Mus].

Under experimental conditions, possible mechanisms of precopulatory isolation were studied in house mice of there forms: Mus musculus musculus, sympatric M. spicilegus, and allopatric hybrid population of M. m. domesticus x M. m. musculus. In these experiments, the animals were placed in pairs (a male and a female in state of estrus) on a neutral territory. Nine combinations of matching were used. No pronounced mechanisms were found to prevent the copulation of partners of different forms. The factor analysis has revealed the dependence of different forms of social interactions between potential sexual partners upon three factors: taxonomic position of female, taxonomic position of male, and variant of matching. It was shown that the behaviour of female was one principal determinant of the development of events during the experiment.