Ambushing the Supply Line: a Report on Anolis sagrei Predation on Ants in Chiayi County, Taiwan

Gerrut Norval, Wen-Feng Hsiao, Chung-Chi Lin, Shao-Chang Huang

Abstract


502 brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) were collected for stomach content analysis from an area surrounding a plant nursery (23°25’51’’ N 120°28’30’’ E) in Santzepu, Sheishan District, Chiayi County, as part of an ongoing study on this invasive species. The stomachs of 240 lizards contained ants, which were isolated for identification to establish a basis upon which future studies on ant predation by A. sagrei in Taiwan can be based. These ants comprised of 1428 individuals from 5 subfamilies, of which the majority belonged to Myrmicinae. The species, Pheidole megacephala made up the largest proportion of ants (66.9%), followed by Pheidole pieli (27.14%), Tapinoma indicum (1.54%), Solenopsis geminata (1.33%), and Polyrhachis illaudata (1.19%). The remaining species individually made up less than 1% of the ants collected from the lizards’ stomachs.

Keywords


Norops sagrei; Japalura swinhonis; competition; ambush predator; invasive species

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2011-18-1-39–46

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