Dispersers are more likely to follow mucus trails in the land snail Cornu aspersum

Abstract

Dispersal, movement leading to gene flow, is a fundamental but costly life history trait. The use of indirect social information may help mitigate these costs, yet we often know little about the proximate sources of such information, and how dispersers and residents may differ in their information use. Terrestrial molluscs, which have a high cost of movement and obligatorily leave information potentially exploitable by conspecifics during movement (through mucus trails), are a good model to investigate links between dispersal costs and information use. We studied whether dispersers and residents differed in their trail-following propensity in the snail Cornu aspersum.Dispersers followed mucus trails more frequently than expected by chance, contrary to nondispersers. Trail following by dispersers may reduce dispersal costs by reducing energy expenditure and helping snails find existing habitat or resource patches. Finally, we point that ignoring the potential for collective dispersal provided by trail-following may hinder our understanding of the demographic and genetic consequences of dispersal.

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and diverse potential invertebrate vectors predominantly interact opportunistically

“…feces Slugs and snails have been repeatedly identified as vectors of C. elegans (Petersen et al, 2015a;Schulenburg and Félix, 2017). Since mucus plays a role in communication between snails and their Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 05 frontiersin.org conspecifics (Ng et al, 2013;Vong et al, 2019) and is therefore also a potential source of attraction for C. elegans, the attraction of mucus from the foot of Arion sp. was tested as potential attractant in the chemotaxis assay.…”

Social cues and habitat structure influence the behavior of a non-social insect

“…However, emerging evidence challenges this assumption, suggesting that social information is not exclusive to social species but can also be utilized by non-social ones, particularly in the context of resource availability. Dispersive individuals of Cornu aspersum land snails were found to follow mucus trails left by earlier dispersers more frequently than chance, potentially facilitating habitat colonization (Vong et al 2019). Conversely, the phenomenon of "social resistance" may also influence the behavior of certain Lepidoptera species, particularly in their decision-making processes regarding oviposition sites with varying risks of intraspecific competition (Williams and Gilbert 1981;Dempster 1992).…”

Gastropod Mucus: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Biological Activities, Applications, and Strategic Priorities

“…26 The trail mucus is considered to facilitate conspecific chemical communication, potentially involving pheromones, 27 and affect behavioral patterns. 28,29 Research on the mucus coating of love darts in the land snail Euhadra quaesita shows the ability of snail mucus to modulate reproductive physiology through bioactive factors that delay sexual arousal. 30 This functional diversity reflects the importance of mucus for gastropods across environments.…”