The Effect of the Position of Aggressive Neighbors on the Mating Behavior of Male Cope's Gray Tree Frogs

Frog reproduction is marked by the complexity of the social environment, particularly by the presence of neighbors that influence the mating behavior of male individuals. These neighbors exhibit aggressive behavior when they perceive their territories are being invaded. Additionally, in some species it has seen that male aggressive behavior is not attractive for females. Consequently, the presence of aggressive neighbors (aggressive callers) might negatively influence the attractiveness of males. The purpose of this project is to understand the effect of the social aggressive environment on the attractiveness of males by measuring the females’ preference. Here, we ran phonotaxis trials using females of Cope’s gray tree frogs on a two-choice arena and included the effect of the aggressive calls at different position angles (distances of 30°, 60°, and 90°) in order to determine if the factor of distance altered the attractiveness of the individuals. Additionally, we modified the timing of the aggressive calls relative to the advertisement calls to determine the strength of the masking effect. The results showed no significant effect of the distance of the neighbor aggressive calls on the attractiveness of a male but a significant effect of the timing, giving the overlapping experiments a stronger negative effect. In conclusion, frog choruses are systems where the social environment plays an important role in modifying the mating behavior of males; thus, being a determinant factor of their reproductive success.  <br>