Complex Luring Systems in the African Puff Adder (Bitis arietans)

Bitis arietans, the African Puff Adder, is a sit and wait predator that lures prey into close enough range to strike. What's unique about the way they lure their predators is that not only are they doing so by using their body to mimic other organisms, but they're actually using a dual-mimic system, with two mimics that can be done simultaneously or individually. One of the ways they mimic other organisms is through lingual mimicry, where they stick out their tongue and wave it in such a way as to look like insect larvae to a potential prey item. The other method of mimicry, caudal luring, achieves the same thing by waving the tail. 

African Puff Adder (Bitis arietans)

The research conducted to determine the methods of mimicry and luring by B. arietans spanned a total of over 4600 hours of video recording of these snakes in their natural habitats. The type of luring, whether it was used in conjunction with the other method (so either lingual, caudal, or both) was recorded, as well as the type of prey captured with each method. This was then used to determine what luring methods were being used primarily by this species, and what prey items were associated with each luring method, if there was a correlation. 

The results were certainly interesting. Not only are the African Puff Adders utilizing two distinct luring methods, both independently and simultaneously, but they are adjusting their luring methods for the type of prey they're trying to lure in. With the lingual luring specifically, this type of luring had not only been previously observed only in aquatic foragers, but B. arietans was found to only use lingual luring for amphibian prey such as frogs and toads, indicating that they're changing their behavior in response to what prey they have available. This more complex form of decision making could certainly be a source of future research in the field of serpent behavior. 

Source:

Glaudas, X., & Alexander, G. J. (2017). A lure at both ends: aggressive visual mimicry signals and prey-specific luring behaviour in an ambush-foraging snake. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 71(1), 2.

A lure at both ends: aggressive visual mimicry signals and prey-specific luring behaviour in an ambush-foraging snake