Responses of the male golden hamster to mixtures of odorants identified from vaginal discharge

Abstract

A series of aliphatic acids and alcohols was isolated and identified from hamster vaginal discharge. These materials along with a previously identified hamster attractant pheromone, dimethyl disulfide, were assayed in amounts characteristic of a single female collection for their ability to attract normal males and to promote copulatory behavior toward female surrogates. Estrous hamster vaginal discharge attracted normal males and stimulated copulatory attempts toward scented surrogates. Male copulatory behavior was unmodified by: dimethyl disulfide, the aliphatic acids, the aliphatic alcohols or a grand mixture of all these identified components of vaginal discharge. Therefore there must be some, as yet unidentified, material in vaginal discharge which induces normal males to engage in copulatory behavior. Neither the acids nor the alcohols when presented as mixtures had significant effects on male attraction. The attractiveness of a grand mixture of dimethyl disulfide and the series of aliphatic acids and alcohols was comparable to the attractiveness of dimethyl disulfide alone. Thus, the presence of small amounts of dimethyl disulfide can account for much of the ability of whole vaginal discharge to attract males to the odor source even when this compound is assayed in the presence of large amounts of inactive biological odorants.