0000000000821550
AUTHOR
E. Koskela
Sex and age-specific differences in ultraviolet reflectance of scent marks of bank voles ( Clethrionomys glareolus )
Scent markings of voles are visible via their ultraviolet reflection. Kestrels, and possibly other diurnal raptors, may use this property when hunting. We performed a laboratory study on bank voles to determine whether UV-reflectance of scent marks differs in relation to sex, age and social status. When reflectance spectra of scent marks were measured with a spectro-radiometer, we found UV reflectance to be strongest in mature males. There were no differences between mature females and immature juveniles, nor between sexes in juveniles or mature and immature individuals in females. Moreover, we did not find any difference in UV reflectance between dominant and subordinate mature males. The …
Infanticide in the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus): Occurrence and the effect of familiarity on female infanticide
We studied infanticide in the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus), in a species whose social organization is characterized by strict female territoriality during the breeding season. One possible origin of female territoriality could be to protect the nest site and pups from potentially infanticidal conspecifics. However, direct evidence of the occurrence of infanticide, and thus of its possible role in territorial behaviour of the bank vole females, is totally lacking. Observations in the laboratory, but also in the field and small enclosures yielded a proportion of 30% or more of infanticidal cases of both females and males intruding a strange nest. If an individual of either sex was infa…