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Herpetological Review Herpetological Review - Doczine

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TABLE 1. Prey taken from 21 Sceloporus poinsettii stomachs from northwesternChihuahua, México.Prey Taxon Individuals Items VolumeN % N % cm 3 %InvertebratesAnnelida 1 4.8 1 0.3 0.20 1.1InsectaColeopteraAdults 12 57.1 37 12.4 6.96 37.8Larvae 1 4.8 1 0.3 0.02 0.1Hemiptera 1 4.8 1 0.3 0.32 1.7Homoptera 2 9.5 4 1.3 0.41 2.2HymenopteraAnts 4 19.1 156 52.2 5.06 27.5Other 1 4.8 1 0.3 0.03 0.2Isoptera 4 19.1 83 27.8 0.16 0.9Orthoptera 4 19.1 83 27.8 0.16 0.9Grasshoppers 1 4.8 1 0.3 0.09 0.5Other 9 42.9 13 4.4 4.77 25.9Unknown 4 19.1 83 27.8 0.16 0.9distributional survey of the Chihuahuan Desert and surroundingareas (Lemos-Espinal et al. 2004. Introducción a los Anfibios yReptiles del Estado de Chihuahua. UNAM/CONABIO, Ciudadde México. 128 pp.), specimens were captured in spring and summer2001 and 2002 from various localities in northwestern Chihuahua,México. We removed their stomachs by dissection fordietary analysis. SVL, head-length (HL), and head-width (HW)were measured with digital calipers to the nearest 0.1 mm. Weidentified prey items to the lowest possible taxonomic category,usually order. We measured prey length and width with digitalcalipers to the nearest 0.1 mm and calculated prey volumes usingthe formula for a prolate spheroid (Vitt et al. 2005. Herpetol.Monogr. 19:137–152).The S. poinsettii that we examined consumed nearly 100% insectmaterial, with ants being most important numerically (156)and beetles being the most important volumetrically (37.83%) (seeTable 1). We found no significant relationships among SVL, HL,or HW; and prey length, width, or volume (all P > 0.30).Our findings are contrary to those of Ballinger (op. cit.) andBallinger et al. (op. cit.) who report ontological diet shifts frominsects to plants. Our samples showed no such shift. Thus, ontogeneticdietary shifts in S. poinsettii seem to vary among populations.Submitted by CHRISTOPHER J. DIBBLE, GEOFFREY R.SMITH, Department of Biology, Denison University, Granville,Ohio 43023, USA (e–mail: smithg@denison.edu); and JULIO A.LEMOS–ESPINAL, Laboratorio de Ecología, Tecnología yPrototipos, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, UNAM,Apartado Postal 314, Avenida de Los Barrios No. 1, Los ReyesIztacala, Tlalnepantla, Estado de México, 54090 México (e-mail:lemos@servidor.unam.mx).TRACHYDOSAURUS RUGOSUS ASPER (Shingle Back, Boggi,or Pine-cone Lizard) PREDATION. Trachydosaurus rugosus, includingfour subspecies, is a lizard widespread across much of thesouthern half of continental Australia and selected western offshoreislands (Shea 1992. Unpubl. Ph.D. thesis, University ofSydney; Shea 2000. In Hauschild et al. [eds.], Blauzungenskinke.Beitrage zu Tiliqua und Cyclodomorphus, pp. 108–112. Natur undTier Verlag, Munster), but few records of its predators exist. Thisnote documents an observation of predation on T. r. asper byWedge-tailed Eagles, Aquila audax.At ~0900 h on 8 December 2007, MD observed 3 A. audax ca.40 km N of Conargo, New South Wales, on Conargo-CarrathoolRoad ca. 400 m S of its intersection with Steam Plains Road(35.0708°S, 145.3779°E, datum: WGS84; elev. 110 m). Two weresitting on a stock watering-trough drinking, and the third was circlingin the air ~100 m distant from the other two. The latter wasobserved to swoop to the ground, where it stood erect with itshead above the grass; when approached by the observer to within25 m, it flew into the air ~4 m above the ground with an adult T. r.asper (ca. 25 cm SVL) in its talons, and briefly hovered for 2–3seconds until the observer veered off. The A. audax then settledback on the ground, where it was joined by one of the other twoeagles; both then commenced feeding on the lizard. Habitat wasvery open Acacia pendula woodland with sparse graminoid herbaceouslayer; air temperature was ~22°C, with no cloud coverand no wind. A. audax is a well-known scavenger of road-killsand farm animal mortalities, and as a predator of small wallabiesand introduced rabbits, however predation on reptiles is somewhatunusual. Interestingly, an A. audax was observed to seize alive adult Eastern Brown Snake, Pseudonaja textilis, in March2007, ca. 16 km S of Riverina Highway on Aratula Road (KatrinaMolesworth, pers. comm.), which is ca. 50 km SW of the abovelocality. There has been an extended drought in the region overthe previous four years, which might partly explain the willingnessof A. audax to take reptilian prey in this region, as rabbits androad-kills are currently few.We thank M. Hayes for editorial suggestions.Submitted by DEAN C. METCALFE, PO Box 4056,Werrington, New South Wales, Australia 2747 (e-mail:dean_metcalfe@yahoo.com.au); and MARTIN DRIVER, MurrayCatchment Management Authority, PO Box 835, Deniliquin, NewSouth Wales, Australia 2710 (e-mail:Martin.Driver@cma.nsw.gov.au).TROPIDURUS OREADICUS (Neotropical Ground Lizard).DIET. Tropidurus oreadicus occurs in savanna-like habitats. InBelém, it is usually seen on the trunks of isolated trees, and insome places, on walls and fences; in Amazonia, the species is alsofrequently terrestrial (Ávila-Pires 1995. Lizards of Brazilian Amazonian[Reptilia:Squamata]. Zool. Verhandelinger 299:1–706).Food consists of diverse insect arthropods, but can sometimes includecentipedes, millipedes, and plant matter (Ávila-Pires, op.cit.). However, arthropod prey are typically not identified to species.Here I describe an observation of an adult T. oreadicus preyingon an adult centipede, Scolopendra viridicornis.At 1120 h on 13 July 2006, I found an adult male T. oreadicus(ca. 110 mm SVL) running in the leaf litter with an adult (ca. 85<strong>Herpetological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 39(2), 2008 229

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