Response of Southern Flying Squirrels (Glaucomys volans) to UV-reflecting and UV-fluorescing Feeders

Anneke E. Lisberg^1,*, Erinn Bell², Michael J. Pauers¹, Kerry R. Katovich¹, Ozgur Yavuzcetin³, and Joshua M. Kapfer¹

¹Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Environmental Science, 114 Rockland Lane, State University of New York at Cobleskill, Cobleskill, NY 12043. ²University of Delaware School of Marine Science and Policy, 272 The Green #111, Newark, DE 19716. ³University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Department of Physics, 800 W. Main Street, Whitewater, WI 53190. *Corresponding author.

Northeastern Naturalist, Volume 32, Issue 4 (2025): 562–572

First published early online: 31 December 2025

Abstract
Like many other nocturnal mammals, Glaucomys volans (Southern Flying Squirrel) pelage is biofluorescent. Although comparative studies suggest that mammalian fluorescing compounds occur broadly and fluorescence may be incidental, it is not yet known whether biofluorescence impacts nocturnal mammal ecology. To determine whether fluorescence increases visibility and is capable of altering behavioral responses, we compared responses of ~20 Southern Flying Squirrels to unpainted feeders vs. feeders with ultraviolet (UV) reflectance and UV fluorescence at wavelengths similar to those re-emitted by their pelage. Squirrels preferentially used UV reflecting and fluorescent feeders over unpainted controls in a Y-shaped choice test feeder. This result supports the hypothesis that fluorescence increases general visibility and visual contrast against a nocturnal background and suggests that biofluorescence may similarly aid conspecific visibility.

Download Full-text pdf (Accessible only to subscribers. To subscribe click here.)