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Effects of physical attributes and chemical composition of novel foods on food selection by Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus)

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Abstract

An organism’s food is a fundamental aspect of its survival niche. Free-ranging rodents are presented regularly with different types of novel food. To investigate the novel food selection process in Norway rats concerning chemical and physical characteristics, 288 laboratory bred Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) were tested with a 2-h free choice for each animal. First, rats were tested against eight kinds of novel foods: corn, beans, broiler ration, soybeans, peanuts, rice, potatoes, and millet. Rats preferred corn over the other novel food types, and there was a significant positive correlation between the selective coefficient and carbohydrate content; rats chose novel food with highest energy content. Rats also appeared to be less neophobic to foods of high sugar content. Regarding physical characteristic, rats effectively differentiated between spectral colors of different wavelengths, and red-colored food was more attractive for rats than foods of four other colors. Small-sized food received the highest numbers of visits and longest feeding bouts compared to other sizes. These results suggest that the carbohydrates content, red color, and small size of novel food play a role in the novel food selection of Norway rats.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Dean Biggins, US Geo survey (bigginsd@usgs.gov) and Prof. Dr. Fahong Yu, University Of Florida (fyu@ufl.edu) for their valuable comments and excellent work in revising the manuscript. This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 program, 2007CB109102), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31272320 and No. 30870374), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Behavior, College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, Jiangsu, China

    Ibrahim M. Hegab, Hemin Pan, Junyan Dong, Aiqin Wang, Baofa Yin, Shengmei Yang & Wanhong Wei

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  1. Ibrahim M. Hegab
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  2. Hemin Pan
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  3. Junyan Dong
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  4. Aiqin Wang
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  5. Baofa Yin
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  6. Shengmei Yang
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  7. Wanhong Wei
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wanhong Wei.

Additional information

Communicated by J. Jacob.

I. M. Hegab and Hemin Pan have contributed equally to this study.

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Hegab, I.M., Pan, H., Dong, J. et al. Effects of physical attributes and chemical composition of novel foods on food selection by Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). J Pest Sci 87, 99–106 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-013-0511-0

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