Abstract
A study was undertaken to elucidate the role of the cloacal scent glands in the desert kingsnake, Lampropeltis getulus splendida. Experiments included male trailing responses to female scent gland secretion and tongue-flick responses of both sexes to the secretions of both sexes. The only significant differences found were in cumulative female tongue-flick response to female secretion and male tongueflick response to male secretion in February. Histological examination reveals no smooth muscle associated with the glands; rather, each gland is enclosed by longitudinal striated muscle and the duct leading to the cloaca is provided with a circular striated muscle sphincter, suggesting that secretion is rapidly expelled. These observations, along with preliminary results from exposure of mammalian predators to the gland secretion and the behavior of wild kingsnakes in response to molestation in the field, suggest that the scent gland secretion in this subspecies is not an intersexual pheromone but may be an interspecific allomone utilized in defensive behavior. The evidence does not rule out the possibility that the secretion may play some intraspecific role.
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