Responses of Eastern red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) to chemical cues of prey presented in soluble and volatile forms

Abstract

Terrestrial salamanders are able to detect prey items using chemical cues, but the nature of the cues involved is uncertain. This study aimed to tease apart the roles of the soluble and volatile components of prey cues detected by Eastern red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus), assuming the likelihood that these different components are respectively detected by the vomeronasal (accessory) and main olfactory organs. Wild-caught salamanders were exposed to control or soluble and volatile cricket cues in two different behavioural assays conducted in the laboratory. The first series of assays focused on localized presentation of soluble cues on the substrate, and the second on point sources of volatile cues delivered through plastic tubes. Room temperature was varied across experiments. Salamanders increased chemoinvestigation of the substrate via nosetapping when soluble prey cues were distributed non-uniformly on the substrate. In the warmer of two temperatures tested, salamanders additionally showed a spatial preference for location of soluble cue deposition. Attraction to a point source of volatile cues was not evident when examining the responses of salamanders grouped together; however, investigation of the volatile point source was significantly correlated with side preference only when both soluble cues and a volatile point source were present. The latter suggests that a subset of salamanders were attracted to the point source of volatile cues in the presence of soluble cues on the substrate. This study indicates that soluble prey cues alone are sufficient to trigger salamander foraging behaviour, and that temperature influences this foraging response. It supports the notion that the vomeronasal system plays an important role in prey detection, but suggests that volatile cues are also investigated by some salamanders when soluble prey cues have been detected.