Central control of mating call production and spawning in the tree frog Hyla arborea savignyi (Audouin): Results of electrical stimulation of the brain

Abstract

Electrical stimulation of the anterior preoptic nucleus elicited the production of mating calls by male Hyla arborea savignyi. Such calls are composed of pulses resembling those of natural mating calls both in their duration and in their sequential arrangement. As a rule, the amplitude of successive pulses within a group increases more rapidly in the electrically evoked calls than in natural calls. The frogs could be brought into a state of readiness to call, which did not lead to actual calling activity, by stimulation in the anterior preoptic, posterior preoptic, and magnocellular nuclei as well as in the hypothalamus. Stimulation of the anterior preoptic nucleus of one female elicited repeated vocalizations, which may be interpretable as mating calls. The posture adopted by the female for spawning can be elicited in males as well as in females by electrical stimulation of the anterior preoptic nucleus.