Frequency jumps and subharmonic components in calls of female Odorrana tormota differentially affect the vocal behaviors of male frogs

Studies have demonstrated that the sounds of animals from many taxa with nonlinear phenomena (NLP)—caused by nonlinear characteristics of vocal organ dynamics that lead to nonlinear vocal phenomena—can influence the behavior of receivers. However, the specific functions of different NLP components have received less attention. In most frog species, females produce few or no vocalizations; in contrast, female Odorrana tormota exhibit a diverse range of calls that are rich in NLP components. Previous field playbacks have shown that the female calls can elicit responses from male frogs. Therefore, we conducted a phonotaxis experiment to investigate the differential effects of different NLP calls by female O. tormota on the vocal behavior of male frogs. The results revealed that calls with subharmonics elicited a greater number of short calls and answering calls from male frogs compared to calls with frequency jumps. However, calls with frequency jumps triggered more staccato calls from males than calls with subharmonics. Additionally, during the phonotaxis experiments, we recorded the initial vocalizations of males in response to playbacks of female calls. The majority of males first produced short calls. Under calls with frequency jumps, most of male frogs approaching within 10 cm of the loudspeaker produced staccato calls instead of “meow” calls or short calls. While under calls with subharmonics, most male frogs preferred to produced short calls. Our findings demonstrate that frequency jumps and subharmonic components in the calls of female O. tormota have different effects on male vocal behaviors. The current study lays a foundation for a further understanding of the function of anuran NLP components.