[The reaction of adult Roborovskii dwarf hamsters (Phodopus roborovskii) to the odor signals of individuals of their own and the opposite sex at different seasons of the year].

Studies were carried out on adult males and females of the Roborovskii dwarf hamster kept in natural temperature and light regime throughout the year. The reactions of hamsters to odors of urine, excrements, and the secretory substance of the midabdominal gland from conspecific males and females were studied by the method of alternative selection from a pair of presented odor sources during each of the four seasons. The results obtained were compared with reproduction in the tested individuals. It was shown that interest in the same excrements changed in different seasons, urine being the most sexually attractive. However, if the males examine this odor from the opposite sex reliably longer during all seasons, the females show a similar picture only in spring-summer, which coincides with the most active reproduction. Unlike the urine, the secretory substance of the midabdominal gland appears to have greater importance in organization of the territorial interactions between individuals. Both males and females smell the secretory substance of the donor males reliably longer during all seasons, except winter. Feces do not play the leading role either in sexual or territorial interactions, but interest in the odor of this excrement in individuals of both sexes is sufficiently high, especially in summer.