HUMFELD, SARAH C.*; GERHARDT, H. CARL: Male Acoustic Preferences Parallel Female Mate Choice Preferences

Male green treefrogs (Hyla cinerea) attract potential mates, as well as sexual parasites, with their advertisement call. Males using the alternative satellite mating tactic, position themselves silently near a calling male and attempt to intercept females attracted to the caller. In this study, we wished to test the prediction that satellite males will associate with males producing the most attractive advertisement calls. Females exhibit mate choice based on the value of the lower-frequency spectral component located between 700 and 1200 Hz. Using a two-speaker playback system and synthetic advertisement calls, we conducted choice tests with a population of female green treefrogs from southeast Missouri. When given a choice between a signal with an average low frequency peak (840 Hz) and those 16.7 and 25% higher (1008, 1120 Hz), all females preferred the 840 Hz signal. When given a choice between a signal with an average low frequency peak and those 16.7 and 25% lower (700 and 630 Hz), 81% and 69% of females, respectively, chose the lower frequency signals. Females consistently preferred low frequency calls across the natural distribution of low frequency values. In a second set of experiments, non-calling males were asked to make the same phonotactic choices. Of the males that responded, 75% preferred the 700 Hz signal to the 840 Hz signal and 65% preferred the 840 Hz signal to the 1008 Hz signal. Males exhibit phonotactic behavior very similar to that of females, and their acoustic preferences roughly parallel those of females. This phonotactic response may enable males using the satellite mating tactic to maximize potential reproductive fitness.