Courtship, mating, and male combat of the brown tree snake, Boiga irregularis

The brown tree snake. Boiga irregularis, is an introduced pest species on t he island of Guam where it has caused significant economic and ecological d amage. Despite the need for basic biological information about this species to manage it effectively, little is known about its reproductive behavior. We report here the repertoire of reproductive behaviors displayed by this species. The courtship behavior of the brown tree snake parallels that of o ther colubrids, adhering to the triphasic schema developed to standardize d escriptions of colubrid courtship: nonetheless. there are differences in th e specific behaviors displayed. Unlike most other colubrids; Female brown t ree snakes employ courtship behaviors normal displayed only by males. In ad dition, females can inhibit male courtship through the use of a pheromone r eleased in a liquid secretion from the cloaca. Male brown tree snakes show ritualized combat behavior similar to that observed in other colubrid speci es. Longer and heavier males always won combat events in the study.