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Interspecific social interactions and behavioral responses of Apodemus agrarius and Apodemus flavicollis to conspecific and heterospecific odors

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Abstract

The social interactions between Apodemus agrarius and A. flavicollis, and their behavioral responses to conspecific and heterospecific odors, were studied in male–male and female–female interspecific dyadic encounters, and an attraction–avoidance test was used in order to clarify the behavioral mechanisms which control their relationships in wild populations. The experiments were carried out at the beginning and at the end of the breeding season—in spring and in autumn. In spring the aggressiveness was higher than in autumn. Males of both species showed attraction to conspecific odors from the opposite sex, while the females were indifferent. In autumn both males and females displayed attraction to conspecific odors from the same sex. However, mice of both species showed avoidance to heterospecific odors from the same and the opposite sex in spring, and indifference to heterospecific odors from the same and the opposite sex in autumn. Based on these findings, it could be assumed that the patterns of social interactions and responses to conspecific and heterospecific odors undergo seasonal changes in their life cycle. Probably the avoidance response to heterospecific odors could serve as a spacing mechanism to avoid aggressive encounters between A. agrarius and A. flavicollis in syntopic habitats during the breeding period.

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Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Maria Miladinova for her help in the laboratory experiments and the two referees for their comments and recommendations for improving the standard of the present manuscript.

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  1. Department of Ecology and Protection of Nature, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ochridski”, 8, Dragan Tzankov Blvd, 1164, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Daniela M. Simeonovska-Nikolova

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Correspondence to Daniela M. Simeonovska-Nikolova.

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Simeonovska-Nikolova, D.M. Interspecific social interactions and behavioral responses of Apodemus agrarius and Apodemus flavicollis to conspecific and heterospecific odors. J Ethol 25, 41–48 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-006-0203-9

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