Lingual luring is a form of aggressive mimicry in which a predator (typically a snake or turtle) uses its tongue to fool potential prey into approaching close to what appears to be a small wriggling worm.
Lingual lures are very well developed in young alligator snapping turtles which wait underwater with their mouths open. The tongue is wriggled like a worm and fishes attracted to it are captured by a rapid snapping of the mouth.[1][2]
Lingual luring has also been noted in some species of snakes including the garter snake Thamnophis atratus[3][4] and species of Nerodia (including N. sipedon, N. clarkii and N. rhombifer) – here the luring is initiated by flicking the surface of water with their tongue to attract fish.[5] Similar behaviour has been reported in the snowy egret (Egretta thula) which uses tongue flicking when foraging.[6][7] The puff adder Bitis arietans uses its tongue which is loosely wriggled like a worm to attract amphibian prey. The puff adder also uses its tail as a lure (caudal luring).[8]
^Drummond, Hugh; Gordon, Elizabeth R. (2010). "Luring in the Neonate Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macroclemys temminckii): Description and Experimental Analysis". Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie. 50 (2): 136. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1979.tb01022.x.
^Welsh, Hartwell H. Jr.; Lind, Amy J. (2000). "Evidence of Lingual-Luring by an Aquatic Snake". Journal of Herpetology. 34 (1): 67–74. doi:10.2307/1565240. JSTOR565240. S2CID14920116.
^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): 1–7. Bibcode:2017BEcoS..71....2G. doi:10.1007/s00265-016-2244-6. S2CID42792034.
