MATE CHOICE, MATE GUARDING AND OTHER MATING TACTICS IN GOLDEN HAMSTERS MAINTAINED UNDER SEMINATURAL CONDITIONS by ROBERT D. LISK, U. WILLIAM HUCK1), ANDREA C. GORE and MICHAEL X. ARMSTRONG2) (Department of Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, U.S.A.) (With 2 Figures) (Acc. 16-IX-1988) Introduction Mate choice is often a complex process involving both an information- gathering and decision-making process (WITTENBERGER, 1983). Choos- ing individuals typically must acquire comparative information about several prospective mates before choosing one or more of them as mating partners. To date, studies of mate choice have sought to identify the criteria by which females (and less often males) choose mates (e.g. BATESON, 1980; BURLEY, 1981; HucK & BANKS, 1982a, b). In contrast, little attention has been given to the behavioral manifestations of the information-gathering process itself or to the manner in which mate choice is expressed under natural or seminatural conditions. "What is needed next," according to WITTENBERGER, "is more careful observation of the exact sequence of events that takes place during the mating pro- cess.... (especially) on the sequence in which males are visited and on the particular male that is chosen". Insofar as information-gathering and decision-making processes may be temporally discrete, such studies will necessarily entail continuous observation of females throughout the mating process. Although female choice often takes the form of an exclusive preference for a particular male (e.g., rock doves, BURLEY, 1981), mating preferences may also occur when females mate with several males. For 1) Present address: Biology Program, Sangamon State University, Springfield, Illinois 62794, U.S.A. 2) These studies were supported in part by funds from the National Science Founda- tion U.S.A. Grant BNS-8607258.