Burley R A, Holman S D, Hutchison J B
Horm Behav. 1983 Dec;17(4):374-87. doi: 10.1016/0018-506x(83)90047-8.
The hormonal regulation of precopulatory behavior in the female Mongolian gerbil was studied using two groups (N = 6) of sexually experienced females. A novel testing procedure was used which involved females living continuously with test males for several days. The test males showed either full sexual behavior (copulating males, C) or only precopulatory behavior (noncopulating males, NC). Experiment 1 investigated changes during the estrous cycle and following ovariectomy in females. Experiment 2 studied the effects of hormonal treatment of these ovariectomized females with 6 micrograms estradiol benzoate (EB) followed by 0.4 mg progesterone (P) or by 0.04 ml arachis oil. When tested with NC males, females displayed a greater range of precopulatory behavior. The patterns could be classified into three groups according to the manner of response to ovariectomy and hormone treatment. Group I patterns (approach, leave, and olfactory investigation of the male's head) were affected by neither ovariectomy nor EB treatment relative to Day 3 levels (Day 3, day preceding estrus; Day 4, estrus), but they were increased to estrous levels by EB and P. Group II patterns (darting, foot-stomping, and the present and piloerection postures) appeared only during estrus, did not appear after ovariectomy, and reappeared only after sequential EB and P treatment. Group III patterns (investigation of the male's anogenital area, allogrooming, ventral gland marking, and sand-rolling) were reduced relative to both estrus and Day 3 levels by ovariectomy and increased above Day 3 levels by EB alone; EB and P treatment further increased Group III patterns to the level of estrus. It is suggested that female precopulatory behavior patterns differ in their responsiveness to ovarian hormones. Estrogen appears to affect those patterns associated with the earliest stages of estrus (Group III).
利用两组（每组N = 6）有性经验的雌性蒙古沙鼠，研究了雌性蒙古沙鼠交配前行为的激素调节。采用了一种新的测试程序，让雌性与测试雄性连续生活几天。测试雄性表现出完全性行为（交配雄性，C）或仅交配前行为（非交配雄性，NC）。实验1研究了雌性发情周期及卵巢切除后的变化。实验2研究了对这些卵巢切除的雌性用6微克苯甲酸雌二醇（EB），随后用0.4毫克孕酮（P）或0.04毫升花生油进行激素处理的效果。当与NC雄性测试时，雌性表现出更大范围的交配前行为。根据对卵巢切除和激素处理的反应方式，这些行为模式可分为三组。第一组模式（接近、离开以及对雄性头部的嗅觉探究）相对于第3天（第3天，发情前一天；第4天，发情期）的水平，既不受卵巢切除也不受EB处理的影响，但经EB和P处理后增加到发情期水平。第二组模式（飞奔、跺脚以及呈现和竖毛姿势）仅在发情期出现，卵巢切除后不出现，仅在依次给予EB和P处理后重新出现。第三组模式（对雄性肛门生殖器区域的探究、相互梳理毛发、腹部腺体标记以及翻滚沙子）相对于发情期和第3天的水平，经卵巢切除后减少，仅EB处理使其增加到高于第3天的水平；EB和P处理进一步将第三组模式增加到发情期水平。表明雌性交配前行为模式对卵巢激素的反应性不同。雌激素似乎影响与发情最早阶段相关的那些模式（第三组）。
