Lipid Components of Prey Odors Elicit Feeding Responses in Western Toads (Bufo boreas)

Abstract

UNTIL recently it has been generally assumed that anurans rely principally, if not entirely, on visual cues in locating and capturing prey. Movement of objects within a range of acceptable sizes has been widely supposed to be the primary releaser of feeding behavior (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1952; Bragg, 1957; Maturana et al., 1960; Pigarev et al., 1972; Ingle, 1968, 1973; Ewert, 1976). Evidence has been reported that olfactory cues also play a role in the feeding behavior of at least some species of frogs and toads. Most pertinent are the studies of Heusser (1958), who found that Bufo calamita could locate prey solely from odor cues; Sternthal (1974), who demonstrated that Rana pipiens could learn to avoid noxious prey using olfactory cues alone; and Shinn and Dole (1978), who reported that the odors of insect prey will elicit feeding responses in R. pipiens in the absence of visual cues.