Do Female Prairie Voles Prefer Stressed Males?

Abstract

The prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) is a monogamous rodent that can be used to study the development of social bonds. Stress is known to have an effect on the formation of monogamous pair‐bonds in this species. The purpose of this experiment was to examine the relationship between stress and pair‐bond formation. Specifically, we wanted to test the effect of stress in males on mate choice by females, and also test the effects of pair‐bond formation on stress levels in males over a period of time following the mate choice test. “Stressed” males were exposed to a resident‐intruder paradigm immediately prior to a 120‐minute mate choice test. During the test, females were allowed the choice of spending time with a stressed male or a male that had not been exposed to a stressor. Following the mate choice procedure, females were paired with the preferred male or, if they did not make a choice, were paired with one of the two males at random. Fecal samples were collected from the paired male periodically over a 14‐day period for corticosterone measurement. Contrary to expectations, only a small number of females preferred the stressed male, while the majority of subjects either preferred the male that had not been exposed to a stressor, or did not make a choice. We conclude that female prairie voles do not prefer stressed males.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.