THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DISTURBANCE, RESPIRATION RATE AND FEEDING INCOMMON LIZARDS (LACERTA-VIVIPARA)

Slightly disturbing captive common hazards, Lacerta vivipara, by movem ent and noise while they are basking in laboratory arenas resulted in an increase in respiration frequency (R(f)) and a decrease in the prob ability that a lizard would respond to the introduction of a potential prey item. Two categories of prey (crickets and mealworms) were prese nted at three locations defined in relation to the snout of a lizard; there were clear negative correlations between R(f) and probability of feeding in all cases. Respiration frequency can thus be used as a mea ns for determining whether a lizard in a feeding trial has been divert ed by extraneous stimuli. This is important in investigations of forag ing efficiency in relation to perceptual fields and movement patterns, in which it is necessary to know that experimental animals have not b een diverted in this way.