Effects of Deprivation of Vomeronasal Chemoreception on Prey Discrimination in Rattlesnakes

C. Patrick Stark; Chelsea Tiernan; David Chiszar

doi:10.1007/bf03395766

Effects of Deprivation of Vomeronasal Chemoreception on Prey Discrimination in Rattlesnakes

The Psychological Record ◽

10.1007/bf03395766 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 61 (3) ◽

pp. 363-370 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

C. Patrick Stark ◽

Chelsea Tiernan ◽

David Chiszar

Keyword(s):

Prey Discrimination

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Acoustic basis for fish prey discrimination by echolocating dolphins and porpoises

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America ◽

10.1121/1.3147497 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 126 (1) ◽

pp. 460-467 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Whitlow W. L. Au ◽

Brian K. Branstetter ◽

Kelly J. Benoit-Bird ◽

Ronald A. Kastelein

Keyword(s):

Fish Prey ◽

Prey Discrimination

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Pathogen avoidance and prey discrimination in ants

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.191705 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 191705 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Hugo Pereira ◽

Claire Detrain

Keyword(s):

Fungal Infection ◽

Foraging Behaviour ◽

Chemical Cues ◽

Myrmica Rubra ◽

Physico Chemical ◽

Insect Societies ◽

Binary Choices ◽

Prey Discrimination ◽

Pathogen Avoidance ◽

Infected Prey

Insect societies have developed sanitary strategies, one of which is the avoidance of infectious food resources as a primary line of defence. Using binary choices, we investigated whether Myrmica rubra ants can identify prey that has been artificially infected with the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium brunneum . We compared the ants' foraging behaviour towards infected prey at three different stages of fungus development : (i) prey covered with fungal conidia, (ii) prey freshly killed by the fungus and (iii) sporulating prey. Most foragers retrieved a corpse covered with a high number of spores but they consistently avoided a sporulating prey and collected less prey that had recently died from fungal infection. Furthermore, ant responses were highly variable, with some individuals retrieving the first prey they encountered while others inspected both available prey before making a decision. Workers were not repelled by the simple presence of fungal conidia but nevertheless, they avoided retrieving cadavers at later stages of fungal infection. We discuss how these different avoidance responses could be related to: differences in the ants’ perceptive abilities; physico-chemical cues characterizing fungus-infected prey or in the existence of physiological or behavioural defences that limit sanitary risks associated with potentially contaminated resources.

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