The females of many species undergo a cycle of sexual activity during which they can only conceive during a short time. They are often only receptive to mating for a period around the time when they produce eggs. Courtship behaviour is used by males to determine whether the females is at this receptive stage. If she responds with the appropriate behavioural response, countship continues and is likely to result in the production of offspring. If she is not receptive, she exhibits a different pattern of behaviour and the male ceases to court her, turning his attentions elsewhere.
During courtship, animals use signals to communicate with a potential mate and with members of their own sex. Typically a male carries out some action. This action acts as a stimulus to the female, who responds with a specific action of her own. Her reponse acts as a stimulus to the male tocarry out a further action. The ritual proceeds in this way in what is called a stimulus-response chain. The chain of actions is the same for all members of a species but differs for members of different species. In this way they may be prepared to mate. The longer the courtship sequence continues, the more likely it is that mating will result. If at any point one of the pair fails to respond appropriately, then the courtship sequence ends
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