Moving vs still prey: do common wall lizards show any preference?

Abstract

Abstract Among prey functional traits, mobility plays a major role, affecting its actual availability to predators: a moving animal is usually more susceptible of being detected than immobile or inanimate prey. With the aim of investigating the role played by visual cues and preference for moving vs. immobile prey in a widespread, generalist species, common wall lizard Podarcis muralis, we used two different experimental approaches. First, we assessed the preference of tested individuals for either one active or one still mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), symmetrically hung in a T-shaped arena (single prey preference experiment); secondly, each individual was left free to interact for 20 min with two closed boxes containing 10 moving or still worms, kept at opposite sides of a rectangular arena (multiple prey experiment). Our results showed that lizards consistently selected the moving stimuli when no chemical prey-borne cues were available. When choosing between single prey, we found inter-individual variation in both lizard preference for moving or still prey and latency to attack, which may depend on either microhabitat-related difference in foraging tactics or personality traits.