THE BEHAVIOR OF MALES OF THREE SPECIES OF GECKOS DURING PAIRING 

Okshtein Igor' Leonidovich, Researcher, laboratory 170, Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute” (25 Bolshaya Cheremushkinskaya street, Moscow, Russia), E-mail: okshtein@yandex.ru
Galkina Polina Alekseevna, Student, The Moscow school in the Southwest № 1543 (building 5, 3 26-ti Bakinskikh Komissarov street, Moscow, Russia), E-mail: post.post2000@yandex.ru
Vlasova Dar'ya Maksimovna, Student, the School in the Southwest named after marshal V. I. Chuykov (building 6, 32 Zelenodolskaya street, Moscow, Russia), E-mail: 3740469vlasova@gmail.com
Sangatulova Tat'yana Romanovna, Student, the School in the Southwest named after marshal V. I. Chuykov (building 6, 32 Zelenodolskaya street, Moscow, Russia), E-mail: sangatulova@gmail.com 

598.112.11 

DOI

10.21685/2307-9150-2019-2-14 

Background. The behavioral repertoires of agonistic behavior of young and large adult males of three species of geckos were studied: Mediodactylus kotschyi (Steindachner, 1870), Hemidactylus triedrus (Daudin, 1802) and Hemidactylus mabouia (Moreau de Jonnes, 1818).
Materials and methods. The geckos were kept singly, during the seating one gecko (“guest”) was placed on the territory of the other (“resident”) for 30–60 minutes, and interactions were highlighted inside the seating.
Results and conclusions. The males of all the studied species of geckos use a similar set of demonstrations during the seating: the ABD posture and various tail movements (CT, CN, CP, etc.). Young (immature and, in some cases, young adult) males do not receive damage from each other or from large males. Victory in agonistic interactions is most strongly facilitated by size, it does not matter or almost does not matter at whose individual site the interaction takes place. At least, in M. kotschyi and P. turneri, the behavior in agonistic interactions of “residents” differs from the behavior of “guests”, Geckos distinguish between “their” and “alien” individual areas, even if visually they are very similar. 

Key words

Mediodactylus kotschyi, Hemidactylus triedrus, Hemidactylus mabouia, males, behavior 

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