Abstract
Adult garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis), collected in October near a traditional, communal hibernaculum in central Wisconsin, were acclimated to autumnal conditions and subjected to laboratory tests to determine whether they could follow scent trails of a conspecific. Graded responses were obtained, but 75% of the sample showed at least some inclination to follow scent trails. The results suggest that pheromone cues may be used by male and female garter snakes to locate traditional dens during autumnal migrations. Evidence from this and other studies suggests that pheromones are probably used in conjunction with other homing mechanisms and that the role of pheromones in den location may be more important in younger snakes and in populations inhabiting northern latitudes.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Brown, W., andMacLean, F. 1983. Conspecific scent-trailing by newborn timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus).Herpetologica 39:430–435.
Burghardt, G.M. 1980. Behavioral and stimulus correlates of vomeronasal functioning in reptiles: Feeding, grouping, sex and tongue use, pp. 275–301,in D. Muller-Schwarze and R. Silverstein (eds.) Chemical Signals: Vertebrates and Aquatic Invertebrates. Plenum, New York.
Costanzo, J. 1986. Influence of hibernaculum microenvironment on the winter life history of the garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis).Ohio J. Sci. 86:199–204.
Costanzo, J. 1988. Eco-physiological adaptations to overwintering in the eastern garter snake,Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis. PhD dissertation. Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
Dundee, H., andMiller, M., III. 1968. Aggregative behavior and habitat conditioning by prairie ringneck snakes,Diadophis punctatus arnyi.Tulane Stud. Zool. 15:41–58.
Duvall, D., King, M., andGutzwiller, K. 1985. Behavioral ecology and ethology of the prairie rattlesnake.Nat. Geogr. Res. 1:80–112.
Ford, N. 1981. Seasonality of pheromone trailing behavior in two species of garter snake,Thamnophis (Colubridae).Southwest. Nat. 26:385–388.
Ford, N. 1986. The role of pheromone trails in the sociobiology of snakes, pp. 261–278,in D. Duvall, D. Muller-Schwarze, and R. Silverstein (eds.). Chemical Signals in Vertebrates, IV. Plenum, New York.
Ford, N., andLowe, J., Jr. 1984. Sex pheromone source location by garter snakes: a mechanism for detection of direction in nonvolatile trails.J. Chem. Ecol. 10:1193–1199.
Graves, B., Duvall, D., King, M., Linstedt, S., andGern, W. 1986. Initial den location by neonatal prairie rattlesnakes: functions, causes, and natural history in chemical ecology, pp. 285–304,in D. Duvall, D. Muller-Schwarze, and R. Silverstein (eds.). Chemical Signals in Vertebrates, IV. Plenum, New York.
Gregory, P. 1982. Reptilian hibernation, pp. 53–154,in C. Gans and F. Pough (eds.). Biology of the Reptilia, XIII. Academic Press, New York.
Gregory, P. 1984. Communal denning in snakes, pp. 57–75,in R. Seigel, L. Hunt, J. Knight, L. Malaret, and N. Zuschlag (eds.). Vertebrate Ecology and Systematics—A Tribute to Henry S. Fitch. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
Gregory, P., Macartney, J., andLarsen, K. 1987. Spatial patterns and movements, pp. 366–395,in R. Seigel, J. Collins, and S. Novak (eds.). Snakes: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Macmillan, New York.
Heller, S., andHalpern, M. 1981. Laboratory observations on conspecific and congeneric scent trailing in garter snakes (Thamnophis).Behav. Neural. Biol. 33:372–377.
Hirth, H. 1966. The ability of two species of snakes to return to a hibernaculum after displacement.Southwest. Nat. 11:49–53.
King, M., McCarron, D., Duvall, D., Baxter, G., andGern, W. 1983. Group avoidance of conspecific but not interspecific chemical cues by prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis).J. Herpetol. 17:196–198.
Klauber, L. 1956. Rattlesnakes. Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind, (2 vols.) University of California, Los Angeles.
Landreth, H. 1973. Orientation and behavior of the rattlesnake,Crotalus atrox.Copeia 1973:26–31.
Lawson, P. 1985. Preliminary investigations into the roles of visual and pheromonal stimuli on aspects of behavior of the western plains garter snake,Thamnophis radix haydeni. MS thesis. University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Newcomer, R., Taylor, D., andGuttman, S. 1974. Celestial orientation in two species of water snakes (Natrix sipedon andRegina septemvittata).Herpetologica 30:194–204.
Noble, G., andClausen, H. 1936. The aggregation behavior ofStoreria dekayi and other snakes, with especial reference to the sense organs involved.Ecol. Monogr. 6:271–316.
Parker, W., andBrown, W. 1980. Comparative ecology of two colubrid snakes,Masticophis t. taeniatus andPituophis melanoleucus deserticola, in northern Utah. Milwaukee Publ. Mus. Publ. Biol. Geol. No. 7:1–104.
Sokal, R., andRohlf, F. 1969. Biometry. W.H. Freeman, San Francisco.
Stevenson, R., Peterson, C., andTsuji, J. 1985. The thermal dependence of locomotion, tongue flicking, digestion, and oxygen consumption in the wandering garter snake.Physiol. Zool. 58:46–57.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Costanzo, J.P. Conspecific scent trailing by garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) during autumn Further evidence for use of pheromones in den location. J Chem Ecol 15, 2531–2538 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01014729
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01014729