Experimental data supporting the interactive effects of mating receptivity and courtship pheromones on the scent preferences of female red-legged salamanders
Data files
Dec 23, 2025 version files 14.31 KB
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Kunkel_et_al_2025_Manuscript_Raw_Data.xlsx
12.59 KB
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README.md
1.72 KB
Abstract
The behavioral and endocrine responses elicited by pheromones are highly dependent on the sex and physiology of the receiving individual. In the red-legged salamander (Plethodon shermani), male courtship pheromones influence female mating behavior and regulate the timing of courtship. Pheromones also modulate female feeding behavior and scent preference in this species, but little is known about how the physiological state of females may influence their olfactory preferences. The aim of this study was to use laboratory trials to investigate whether differences in female receptivity influence the effect pheromones have on female scent preference. Our first experiment showed that pheromone treatment significantly increased the time females spent on male-scented substrate compared to both female scent and water. In a second experiment, female P. shermani with differing levels of mating receptivity were treated with either saline or pheromone and assayed for the relative time spent on each of three scents (male scent, food scent, and water). When females were treated with saline, their preference for male scent was positively correlated with mating receptivity. Application of pheromone also increased preference for male scent, but this effect was greater in females with lower receptivity. Pheromone treatment also decreased preference for food scent and was significantly pronounced in females with higher receptivity. These results suggest that courtship pheromones in P. shermani may have dual roles in regulating female preferences based on baseline mating receptivity, further suggesting a complex interplay between male courtship pheromones and female preference dynamics.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.cvdncjtfz
Description of the data and file structure
Scent choice preference experiments were performed using female red legged-salamanders (Plethodon shermani). Briefly, female salamanders were placed in a 10" x 10" x 1" rectangular box with three separate scents: a water control in the center of the box, and two experimental scents on the left and right sides. During an acclimation phase, salamanders were restricted to the water control and treated with either mental gland pheromone extract or a saline control. After the acclimation period, salamanders were allowed to explore the box for 60 min. An observer recorded the salamander's location every minute for a total of 60 observations. The file Kunkel_et_al_2025_Manuscript_Raw_Data.xlsx contains raw counts of the number of time points (~minutes) that the salamander spent on each scent. In experiment 1, female salamanders were presented with a choice of a male or female body wash, and in experiment 2, salamanders were presented with male and food washes. Metadata on female receptivity based on courtship trials is provided.
Files and variables
File: Kunkel_et_al_2025_Manuscript_Raw_Data.xlsx
Description:
Variables
- Salamander ID is an internal reference of the salamanders during the experiment
- Receptivity is a numerical score between 0.25 and 1.0 reporting on the proportion of staged courtship encounters that female salamanders participated in
- Treatment is a binary variable of Pheromone or Saline
- Scent columns are the number of time points (measured every 1 min) that salamanders spent on a given scent
Code/software
Excel
