title: Stimulus control of predatory behavior by the Iberian wall lizard (Podarcis hispanica, Sauria, Lacertidae): effects of familiarity with prey.
abstract: The authors examine the relative roles of vision and chemoreception and the influence of previous experience with prey on the predatory behavior of Iberian wall lizards (Podarcis hispanica). Experiment 1 compared the responses to visual, chemical, and a combination of visual and chemical cues of a familiar prey by 2 groups of lizards that had been kept in captivity for either 3 months or 21 days. Experiment 2 assessed the responses of lizards kept in the laboratory for more than 3 months to a novel prey species. The results reveal that feeding on a prey species affects the lizards' responses to chemical stimuli from that prey. The response to chemical cues of a novel prey requires a 1st-feeding experience with that prey. Lizards that have been fed the same prey species for several months cease responding to the chemical stimuli of that particular prey.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D008116:Lizards; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D012903:Smell; D013045:Species Specificity; D013649:Taste; D014796:Visual Perception