Predatory lizards perceive plant-derived volatile odorants.

Many lizards are olfactory foragers and prey upon herbivorous arthropods, yet their responses to common herbivore-associated plant volatiles remain unknown. As such, their role in mediating plant indirect defenses also remains largely obscured. In this paper, we use a cotton-swab odor presentation assay to ask whether lizards respond to two arthropod-associated plant-derived volatile compounds: 2-()-hexenal and hexanoic acid. We studied the response of two lizard species, and , because they differ substantially in their foraging behavior. We found that the actively foraging responded strongly to hexanoic acid, whereas the ambush foraging responded to 2-()-hexenal-an herbivore-associated plant volatile involved in indirect defense against herbivores. These findings indicate that may contribute to plant indirect defense and that a species' response to specific odorants is linked with foraging mode. Future studies can elucidate how lizards use various compounds to locate prey and how these responses impact plant-herbivore interactions.