Mating call discrimination by females of the treefrog Hyla Meridionalis on Tenerife.

Mating behavior of Hyla meridionalis was observed at an artificial reservoir in Punta del Hidalgo, Tenerife. Playback experiments were conducted in the field near the reservoir. The density of calling males was extremely high, and individuals sometimes called within 5 cm of each other. Males often changed calling positions and successfully attempted to clasp one another. Gravid females were common and most often found in amplexus. In three of four observations, the male initiated amplexus from a distance of 5 to 10 cm. Only 11 of 107 gravid females responded in two-choice playback experiments. Ten chose the calls of a conspecific male recorded at Punta del Hidalgo, and one female chose the calls of a male of H. a. arborea recorded in Germany. Our observations and experimental results are compared with those of similar studies of North American hylids.