Do vocalizations of the male rat elicit calling from the female?

Female rats emit calls during copulation that appear to be associated with their own proceptive behavior. In an earlier study, we had determined that females emit calls when presented with odor cues from a sexually competent adult male. Two experiments were undertaken to determine whether females would vocalize when presented with tape recorded male ultrasonic vocalizations. In the first females were presented with no calls, male mating calls or male preejaculatory calls. They received one test in each sound condition with a devocalized male in the immediate vicinity and one test with no male present. Females tested alone called at a lower level than those tested in the presence of a devocalized male. The presence of male calls did not significantly increase the frequency of calling in females tested in the presence of a male. When females were tested alone, however, calling did increase significantly when male mating calls were presented, but not when preejaculatory calls were presented. In a second experiment, it was confirmed that male mating vocalizations elicited more calls from the female. Thus, male mating calls may elicit vocalizations from the female, but are less effective than male odor cues.