Searching for Cicadas: Assessing the Chemoreceptive Response of the Eastern Copperhead to a Seasonally Abundant Prey Item

Spencer J. Duffendack
Dr. Chad Montgomery, Faculty Mentor

Ambush foraging viperid snakes use chemical cues to locate quality prey ambush sites, but don’t typically pursue prey scent trails prior to striking and envenomation. Viperid snakes actively pursue scent trails prior to envenomation from only a select few prey items. The Eastern Copperhead is known to ambush forage for rodents, but actively scent trail cicadas using chemosensory searching. The objective of this study was to experimentally characterize the chemoreceptive response of Eastern Copperheads to scent stimuli from cicadas. I presented cicada nymph, cicada imago, mouse, and blank swabs to 11 adult copperheads from the Kentucky Reptile Zoo, Slade, KY. I measured the number of tongue flicks from snakes during 60 seconds of swab exposure and for each minute for five minutes following exposure. The results of this study provide experimental evidence for the importance of prey chemical cues in eliciting different foraging responses in copperheads.

Keywords: Herpetology, Behavior, Foraging, Chemosensory, Ecology, Copperhead, Viper, Cicada

Topic(s):Biology

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA