Preputial Gland of the Male Mouse: Attractant Function

Preputial glands of male rodents have long been suspected as sites of pheromone secretion on the basis of little or no experimental evidence (e.g. Noble & Collip, 1941; Spener, Mangold, Sansone & Hamilton, 1969). The present report documents a signalling function for the preputial gland of the male house mouse, i.e. the male's gland apparently secretes a substance which acts as an attractant for females. Two sets of experiments were conducted, both using sexually experienced C57BL/6J females in random stages of their oestrous cycles. In the first set, a group of thirty-two females (6 to 8 months old) were tested for various odour preferences seven times in 5-min trials over an 8-week period. All females were individually housed and maintained between and during testing in the same room which contained no male mice. Test chambers utilized