It sounds like food: Phonotaxis of a diurnal lizard -- There is a complex interaction between the Balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi and the dead horse arum, Helicodiceros muscivorus

Pérez-Cembranos A and Pérez-Mellado V. (2020). It sounds like food: Phonotaxis of a diurnal lizard. Behavioural Processes 179:104217. DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104217

Rolf Degen's take: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1313339840319160322

Highlights

• There is a complex interaction between the Balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi and the dead horse arum, Helicodiceros muscivorus.

• The dead horse arum attracts flies to be pollinated.

• Flies are trapped inside floral chambers during several hours.

• Lizards are able to enter inside floral chambers to capture flies.

• A natural experiment using trapped flies was done in Aire. Lizards were attracted by the sound of trapped flies.

• This is the first known case of phonotaxis towards prey for a diurnal lizard.

Abstract: Foraging diurnal lizards are well known for their use of visual and chemical cues to detect prey. We already showed that the Balearic lizard is able to detect prey using visual and chemical cues, even from airborne odors. In this study we carried out a field experiment to test if lizards can detect prey using acoustic cues. Our results show that Podarcis lilfordi is able to detect flies trapped inside opaque cups, only using acoustic cues. To our knowledge, this is the first known case of phonotaxis of a diurnal lizard. Thus, P. lilfordi can detect, from far away, current pollinators trapped inside floral chambers of the dead horse arum, Helicodiceros muscivorus. This is another behavioral trait displayed by the Balearic lizard during its complex interaction with the dead horse arum.

Popular version: The Lizard and the Rotting Meat Lily. Mary Bates. Psychology Today, Oct 5 2020. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/animal-minds/202010/the-lizard-and-the-rotting-meat-lily