The role of vaginal secretion in hamster sexual behavior: males' responses to normal and vaginectomized females and their odors.

The importance of hamster vaginal secretion relative to other femine odors for attraction of males and elicitation of copulatory behavior was examined by comparing the behavior of males toward normal females with that toward vaginectomized females. Males were more attracted to intact females than to vaginectomized females when odors were the only cues available and also when auditory, visual, and odor cues were available but contact was prevented. There were no differences in the attractiveness of estrous and diestrous females, whether intact or vaginectomized. When males and females were allowed to interact, there were no differences in any measures of male sexual behavior toward normal versus vaginectomized females, which indicates that the presence of vaginal secretion is not necessary for male sexual behavior. The significance of these findings for conceptions of pheromone action in mammals is discussed.