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Carbohydrate and calling: Depletion of muscle glycogen and the chorusing dynamics of the neotropical treefrog Hyla microcephala

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Abstract

Chorusing males of the neotropical treefrog Hyla microcephala call in distinct bouts punctuated by periods of silence, a pattern known as unison bout singing. Schwartz (1991) previously tested and refuted the hypotheses that males periodically stop calling either because of a female preference for males that call cyclically, or because high ambient noise levels inhibit vocal activity. Males of H. microcephala are vocally responsive to the calls of other males, and during calling bouts their rate of note production can exceed 10,000 per hour. In natural choruses females preferentially pair with males that call at the higher rates. Because females can pair with males over many hours, males may stop calling periodically to save energy so they can continue to call for the entire period that females are available. We directly tested this energy conservation hypothesis by collecting samples of males early in the evening just after chorusing commenced and later when chorusing had ended for the night. Trunk muscles (internal and external oblique), which are responsible for the airflow associated with note production, were dissected, frozen, and their glycogen content measured. Data on calling behavior were obtained for late-evening samples. Individual calling behavior was not correlated with a male's final glycogen level. In addition, many males ended their calling before glycogen reserves were exhausted, indicating that factors other than energy can determine when males finally stop chorusing. However, the biochemical assays supported the energy conservation hypothesis. Unless chorusing was punctuated by pauses, most males would have been unable to sustain high rates of calling for an entire evening without exhausting glycogen reserves in their trunk muscles. Because the time females pair with males is probably unpredictable to males., the ability to call for long periods may improve a male's chances of mating.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, 65211, Columbia, Missouri, USA

    J. J. Schwartz

  2. Department of Biology, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine, 04609, USA

    S. J. Ressel

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Connecticut, Box U-43, 06269, Storrs, Connecticut, USA

    C. R. Bevier

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  1. J. J. Schwartz
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  2. S. J. Ressel
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  3. C. R. Bevier
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Communicated by G.M. Klump

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Schwartz, J.J., Ressel, S.J. & Bevier, C.R. Carbohydrate and calling: Depletion of muscle glycogen and the chorusing dynamics of the neotropical treefrog Hyla microcephala . Behav Ecol Sociobiol 37, 125–135 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00164158

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00164158

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