MALE LLAMA CHOICE BETWEEN RECEPTIVE AND NONRECEPTIVE FEMALES

To test if male llamas (Lama glama) discriminate between receptive and nonreceptive females, males were allowed indirect (nine males, three trials; n = 27) or direct (seven males, one trial) contact with a rece ptive and a nonreceptive female. In the test of indirect contact as a basis for male choice of female, males were allowed 15 min to choose b etween a receptive and a nonreceptive female by means of visual, audit ory and olfactory signals only. The male was placed into a pen between two pens, each containing either a receptive female or a nonreceptive female. In the test of direct contact as a basis for male choice, mal es were allowed to indicate choice during 2 h of full contact. In thes e trials, the male was placed into a pen containing both a receptive a nd a nonreceptive female. Males initially contacted receptive females no more often than nonreceptive females (indirect: 13/27 vs. 14/27; di rect: 4/7 vs. 3/7). Males did not contact receptive females more often than nonreceptive females (indirect: 9.6 +/- 1.4 vs. 11.1 +/- 2.8 con tacts in 15 min; direct: 4.3 +/- 1.0 vs. 4.3 +/- 0.9 contacts in 120 m in [mean +/- SE]). When allowed indirect contact, males did not spend more total time with receptive vs. nonreceptive females (4.9 +/- 0.6 o f 15 vs. 5.0 +/- 0.7 of 15 min). However, males spent more total time (44.4 +/- 11.1 of 120 min) in direct contact with receptive females th an with nonreceptive females (20.9 +/- 3.6 of 120 min; p = 0.03), alth ough the number and duration of mounts did not differ by female status (16.6 +/- 7.9 vs. 15.1 +/- 3.9 mounts lasting 39.4 +/- 8.9 vs. 18.1 /- 5.4 min). In conclusion, male llamas did not appear to discriminate between receptive and nonreceptive females under these testing condit ions. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.