Stark seasonal difference in attractiveness of a food lure: insight into foraging ecology and reliability of a potential survey tool for Sugar Gliders Petaurus breviceps

Animals are motivated to search for highly desirable foods, and these motivations can be exploited to detect cryptic species. Using food-based lures with camera traps is common practice to improve detection of many species, but the effectiveness of lures may be influenced by many factors, including the availability of other food. Here, we describe evidence of stark seasonal differences in the effectiveness of a food-based lure for detecting a relatively common arboreal omnivore, the Sugar Glider Petaurus breviceps. As part of a broader research project, we tested the use of a honey-water lure during winter and spring at the same urban and peri-urban sites in northern Sydney. Sugar Gliders appeared highly motivated to visit the honey-water in winter. Sites were visited quickly, repeatedly and for longer than the very few visits to a subset of the same sites in spring. Our results reveal a stark difference in the seasonal attractiveness of a food lure to Sugar Gliders within fragmented urban bushland landscapes. These results provide evidence that results from surveys that rely on specific lures may need to be interpreted with caution during times when alternate food resources may be abundant, as negative results may indicate absence of foraging motivation for that food type rather than actual absences. Further research into seasonal shifts in food availability and nutritional requirements of arboreal omnivores may reveal further insight into the seasonal foraging ecology of specific species to better inform the use of lures for detecting cryptic species.