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

Aggressive mimic species use signals typically resembling an attractive or harmless model to deceive other organisms in order to increase foraging success. With the exception of a few brood parasitic birds that combine two signals, most known cases of aggressive mimicry involve only a single signal. Here, we used fixed videography, a technique which consisted in setting up continuously recording videocameras focused on ambushing animals, to describe—for the first time—the use of two clearly distinct aggressive visual mimicry signals in the same organism, the puff adder (Bitis arietans). Our observational data collected in South Africa revealed that puff adders extended their tongues (lingual luring) and waived their tails (caudal luring), presumably mimicking an invertebrate model, in order to lure prey within striking range. Lingual luring occurred only in the presence of amphibian prey, indicating discrimination between prey types. Our study reveals the diverse predatory strategies and complex decision-making process used by 'sit-and-wait' predators, such as ambushforaging snakes, to catch prey, and indicates that snakes may have higher cognitive abilities than those usually afforded to them.