Meeting Abstract
Invasive predators pose significant problems at the ecosystem level, but solutions that target reproductive interactions in invasive animals have been successful in multiple species. The Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is an invasive species of concern in the Florida Everglades that threatens native vertebrates, especially birds and mammals. The reproductive biology of this species of python is poorly understood in its invasive range in the Everglades, and the primary goal of our research is to establish fundamental knowledge of their chemical communication at multiple levels of inquiry. Sex pheromones in many (if not all) species of snakes reside in the skin’s lipid matrix and can be extracted from whole animals and their shed skins. We isolated lipids from Burmese python sheds (n=9 females, n=7 males) for use in bioassays and analytical chemical analyses. In chemical analyses, we observed sexually dimorphic variation in cholesterol metabolites in the extracts and have detected intrasexual and seasonal variation. In bioassays with male pythons (n=7) trailing lipid extracts in a Y-maze, males demonstrated increased chemosensory investigation toward female, but not male, scent based on tongue-flicking rates. Males also showed an array of behaviors in the Y-maze outside the predicted breeding season in their invasive range, and two of these behaviors were more frequent in the presence of female scent. If chemical cues are used by male Burmese pythons to locate mates, these cues could be implemented in field strategies to control the reproduction and spread of this invasive predator.
