Invading Pest Species and the Threat to Biodiversity: Pheromonal Control of Guam Brown Tree Snakes, Boiga Irregularis

Abstract

The tropical colubrid brown tree snake, Boiga irregularis, is native to Australia, Papua-New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands (Cogger, 1992). The snake is an arboreal, rear-fanged colubrid that specializes in bird predation. The primary habitat of this species is in the tropical rain forests where they are nocturnal and actively forage for a generalized diet of lizards, small mammals, birds and bird eggs (Greene, 1989; Savidge, 1988). Their prey is killed by a combination of constriction and envenomation with the venom injected into the prey through grooves in their enlarged rear fangs (Weinstein et al., 1991). Brown tree snakes reach snout-vent lengths of up to approximately three meters, masses of up to approximately two kilograms and have a relatively slender body plan characteristic of arboreal snakes (Lillywhite and Henderson, 1993; Rodda et al., 1997). The species is sexually dimorphic with males being longer and heavier than females as mature adults (Shine, 1996).