The interactions of courtship, feeding, and locomotion in the behavioral hierarchy of the snail Helix aspersa

Starvation both increased the number of snails that exhibited feeding (i.e., increased feeding proclivity) and decreased the latencies of response to a food stimulus (i.e., increased food arousal). Feeding inhibited locomotion, although starvation itself had no effect. Sexual arousal (the intensity of courtship) increased locomotion, but only in the absence of a mating partner. Sexual proclivity (the likelihood of a snail to court with conspecifics) had no effect on locomotion. In general, proclivity and arousal had different effects on behavior. Food deprivation did not alter the preference of sexually aroused snails for sexual stimuli over food stimuli Both starved and fed courting pairs responded to a food stimulus only during periods of low sexual arousal, although when not sexually aroused, starved snails usually increased the amount of time they spent in contact with a food stimulus. These results suggest that courtship can suppress feeding and that the expression of feeding behavior is dependent upon the occurrence of low levels of sexual arousal (time sharing).