Morin L P, Zucker I
J Endocrinol. 1978 May;77(2):249-58. doi: 10.1677/joe.0.0770249.
The influence of daylength on copulatory behaviour was assessed by comparing male hamsters exposed to long or short photoperiods (14 or 2 h light/24 h). Copulation declined in animals transferred from long to short days; 13 out of 14 hamsters ceased to ejaculate within 9 weeks and many no longer intromitted in tests with sexually receptive female hamsters. The decline in copulation in hamsters experiencing short days was associated with atrophy of the gonads and flank glands. Behavioural changes in these animals were far more gradual than those observed in hamsters after surgical castration. There was significantly more mating behaviour in tests during the subjective night of the hamsters than during their subjective day. Exogenous testosterone was more effective in restoring copulation in castrated hamsters exposed to long days than in castrated animals experiencing short days. This suggests that in short days the substrate for copulatory behaviour is relatively refractory to androgens. Photoperiodically mediated changes in behaviour, physiology and morphology may each contribute directly to the reproductive quiescence presumed to occur in the field during the short days of autumn and winter.
通过比较暴露于长光照周期或短光照周期（14小时光照/24小时或2小时光照/24小时）的雄性仓鼠，评估了日照长度对交配行为的影响。从长日照转移到短日照的动物交配行为减少；14只仓鼠中有13只在9周内停止射精，并且许多在与性接受能力强的雌性仓鼠的测试中不再进行插入动作。经历短日照的仓鼠交配行为的减少与性腺和侧腹腺的萎缩有关。这些动物的行为变化比手术去势后的仓鼠观察到的变化要缓慢得多。在仓鼠的主观夜间进行的测试中，交配行为明显多于其主观白天。外源性睾酮在恢复暴露于长日照的去势仓鼠的交配行为方面比在经历短日照的去势动物中更有效。这表明在短日照条件下，交配行为的底物对雄激素相对不敏感。光周期介导的行为、生理和形态变化可能各自直接导致了假定在秋冬短日照季节在野外发生的生殖静止。
