Comparison of the responses of male Japanese treefrog ( Dryophytes japonicus ) to the rain and advertisement calls

• Published in: Journal of Ecology and Environment Vol. 48; pp. 536 - 542
• Main Authors: Nam, Hahyun, Kim, Jin-Kyoung, Park, Jiho, Kim, Jongsun, Park, Min-Woo, Cheon, Jiyeon, Park, Daesik
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Ecological Society of Korea 01.12.2024; 한국생태학회
• Subjects: animal communication; anuran; playback test; vocalization; 생물학
• ISSN: 2287-8327; 2288-1220
• DOI: 10.5141/jee.24.040

Anurans communicate with others using several types of calls such as advertisement, encounter, release, and rain calls. Some treefrog species produce rain calls from their daytime shelters, such as trees and bushes, during both the breeding and non-breeding seasons. However, the function of rain calls is poorly understood. We investigated the potential functions of rain calls by comparing the responses of male Dryophytes japonicus to the playback of advertisement and rain calls. During one minute of playback and three minutes post-playback, the frequencies of orientation and approach of male D. japonicus towards the call-producing speaker did not differ in the rain and advertisement calls. However, the number of individuals, who finally arrived at the speaker among the males, approached towards the speaker, was significantly lower for the rain call compared to the advertisement call during one-minute playback. Our results suggest that both types of calls evoke the attention of conspecific males, but rain calls do not attract conspecific males, unlike advertisement calls. This difference may reflect the distinct functions of rain and advertisement calls.