AN EPHEMERAL PHEROMONE OF FEMALE HOUSE MICE - DEGRADATION BY OXIDATION

At least two pheromones exist in female house mouse urine that elicit 70-kHz ultrasonic mating vocalizations from males: (1) a potent albeit ephemeral pheromone found in freshly voided urine which disappears wi thin 15-18 h and (2) a more persistent, but less potent pheromone that remains for at least 30 days. Three experiments examined whether male responsiveness to the ephemeral pheromone and its loss in aged urine were due to volatility or oxidation. Experiment 1 demonstrated that bo th sexually experienced and inexperienced males must physically contac t fresh urine before vocalizing. Experiment 2 indicated that storing f reshly voided urine in an air-tight syringe does not attenuate the los s of the ephemeral pheromone. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the loss of activity of the ephemeral pheromone can be prevented with either be ta-mercaptoethanol or dithiotreitol. Thus, the ephemeral pheromone is non-volatile and appears to be degraded by oxidation. (C) 1995 The Ass ociation for the Study of Animal Behaviour