Led by the blind: Bandy-Bandy snakes Vermicella annulata (Elapidae) follow blindsnake chemical trails
- Publication Type:
- Journal Article
- Citation:
- Copeia, 2005, (1), pp. 184 - 187
- Issue Date:
- 2005-01-01
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The ability to detect and follow prey chemical trails is important for actively foraging nocturnal snakes. We investigated whether a nocturnal, ophiophagous (snake-eating) predator, the Bandy-Bandy (Vermicella annulata) can detect and follow blindsnake chemical trails. Adult Bandy-Bandys were offered the choice between control trails (distilled water) and chemical trails from three sympatric squamate species. Bandy-Bandys ignored distilled water trails and the trails of the burrowing Yellow-Bellied Three-Toed Skink (Saiphos equalis) and the nocturnal Golden Crowned Snake (Cacophis squamulosus). In contrast, all of the Bandy-Bandys followed chemical trails from the Blackish Blindsnake (Ramphotyphlops nigrescens), and three snakes followed the blindsnake trails along their entire length (mean distance followed = 0.93 m, range 0.2-1.4 m). Our results suggest Bandy-Bandys use chemical cues to locate blindsnakes but do not respond to chemical trails of other sympatric squamate species. © 2005 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.
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