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Female Green Anole with Sand on Her Head–Been Egg-Laying?

Photo-chronicler of Floridian natural history Karen Cusick has done it again. We’ve been captivated by her backyard photos before, but here’s photo of a female green anole with sand on its snout. Been digging holes to bury her eggs, maybe? And while Karen observed the little lady lizard, it suddenly darted into the bushed and emerged with a meal!

 

Festive Anole Invades British Columbia!

The plant in question

Well, at least one A. sagrei did. Gavin Hanke’s, Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, BC, reported on the arrival of one stowing away in a tropical plant. Anoles do seem to have a knack of getting around in plants, fruit and other contrivances.

Anolis Lizards Have Their Own Homing Device

Carolina Anole

Lizards are active creatures, often running around in new territories to explore and find food. Sometimes they encounter challenges that keep them from running too far. When they wander away from home, how do they get back? It’s a question that’s led researchers to study this topic.

After watching the daily routines of Anolis lizards by using tracking devices placed on their backs, researcher Manuel Leal learned that they return to the same home again and again. This established the next question which was to find out how the lizards knew how to get back. Birds have a similar ability to find their way home. Although the exact method has not been discovered, it’s possible that lizards have similar abilities and functioning as birds in finding their own again.

They Claim Their Homes

Anolis lizards, especially males, claim trees as home territories, fighting to keep any newcomers off their bit of land. They’ve proven that they remember exactly where they stake out their claim, and like all animals, they like structure in their environment, including the location of where they spend their days and nights. Some studies prove that after disorienting the lizards and placing them a far distance from their home, they can still find their way back within 24 hours.

Then They Listen

U.S.  Geological Society geologist John Hagstrum proposed that in order to get back home, pigeons use sounds wave; extensive studies on pigeons show that they use low-frequency sound waves to create an acoustic map of where they are. This way, they can identify predators and safe spaces to land. Some have wondered whether  Anolis lizards might have similar capabilities that are advantageous for homing.

It’s hard to argue that lizards use any other method to get where they came from. Tests have proven shown results that indicate that lizards don’t have the ability to use any magnetic senses or distinguish polarizing light. Still, they manage to baffle scientists who wonder at their complex societies and developed capabilities.

If you want to learn a little more on the topic of how Anolis lizards find their way home, you can see a short film done by Days Edge Productions that follows Leal as he conducts his study.

Anole Ecomorph Watches 50%–Today Only!

Note: the watch on the bottom right is not one of ours!

Note: the watch on the bottom right is not one of ours!

It’s that time again. For one day only, Zazzle.com is offering 50% off the Ecomorph line of watches. Sale Code:

COOLZAZSTYLE

And we’re open to suggestions for new species to feature on a lovely wrist fob. Suggest away!

Arthropod Predators of Anoles

Orange-legged wandering spider (Cupiennius coccineus) consuming house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) at Sirena Biological Station, Corcovado, Costa Rica

Red-legged wandering spider (Cupiennius coccineus) consuming a house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) at Sirena Biological Station, Corcovado, Costa Rica

When someone first asked me about the major predators of anoles, my first thought was to talk about curly-tailed lizards (Leiocephalus carinatus) in the Caribbean, vine snakes (Oxybelis spp.) in the neotropics [see my previous post on anole predation by O. aeneus at La Selva], and birds. I think that as herpetologists, we tend to fall into the trap of thinking of invertebrates as “lesser” taxa to be preyed upon by small vertebrates like lizards, and in turn for small vertebrates to be eaten by larger vertebrates.

I, too, when thinking about how selective pressures shape morphological variation in mainland and island habitats turned to fellow herps and birds as the primary predation pressure for mainland anoles. However, it wasn’t until I arrived in Costa Rica that I discovered the high prevalence of voracious arthropods, and I realized that our beloved lizards had much more to fear!

Orange wandering spider (Cupiennius getazi) with egg sac at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

Orange wandering spider (Cupiennius getazi) with egg sac at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

Red-legged wandering spider (Cupiennius coccineus) eating a pink katydid (Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

Red-legged wandering spider (Cupiennius coccineus) eating a pink katydid (Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

A large adult female mantis (Phasmomantis championi) at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

A large adult female mantis (Phasmomantis championi) at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

Conehead katydid (Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae: Vestria sp.) at La Tarde, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Conehead katydid (Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae: Vestria sp.) at La Tarde, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

In a single night at La Selva, I could easily find dozens of large wandering spiders (Ctenidae), and if I pointed my headlamp higher in the trees I could see eyeshine from hundreds of spiders. Given the high density of large ctenids at La Selva, it is not unlikely that anoles and small tree frogs constitute a major portion of their diet. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if large arthropods are one of the most common predators of mainland anoles in some regions.

The same might be the case for giant mantids of the genera Macromantis and Phasmomantis, and conocephaline katydids sporting fearsome mandibles (e.g. Copiphora spp.). Since the invasive Chinese mantids (Tenodera sinensis) in North America are well documented to prey on hummingbirds almost equal in size to the mantids [see Nyffeler et al. 2017], surely larger and bulkier species in the neotropics can take lizards much smaller than themselves. Even though wandering spiders and conehead katydids are primarily nocturnal hunters, I have heard many stories of these arthropods being implicated in anole and tree frog predation. Research looking into how ctenids and nocturnal katydids forage would help determine if they can actually detect sleeping anoles or if predation events occur from the arthropods simply running in to the anoles while on the move.

If anyone here on Anole Annals has any anecdotal or photographic records, please comment below.

To throw a twist on this discussion, is it possible for a spider to prey on a lizard two and a half times its size? A new paper about a vertebrate-eating jumping spider (Salticidae) describes just that! Considering arthropods as possible major players in anole predation could shed light on behavioral and ecological studies of mainland anoles.

Figure 1 from Nyfeller et al. 2017, showing female jumping spiders (Phidippus regius) consuming Carolina anoles (Anolis carolinensis) and Cuban tree frogs (Osteopilus septentrionalis)

Figure 1 from Nyfeller et al. 2017, showing female jumping spiders (Phidippus regius) consuming Carolina anoles (Anolis carolinensis) and Cuban tree frogs (Osteopilus septentrionalis)

Here are a few more spider photos to wrap up this blog post.

Jumping spider (Salticidae: Phiale cf. guttata) eating an assassin bug (Reduviidae)

Jumping spider (Salticidae: Phiale cf. guttata) eating an assassin bug (Reduviidae)

Red-legged wandering spider (Cupiennius coccineus) consuming house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) at Sirena Biological Station, Corcovado, Costa Rica

Another angle of a red-legged wandering spider (Cupiennius coccineus) consuming a house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) at Sirena Biological Station, Corcovado, Costa Rica

Threat display of a Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria boliviensis) from Tárcoles, Costa Rica. A ctenid with medically significant venom.

Threat display of a Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria boliviensis) from Tárcoles, Costa Rica. A ctenid with medically significant venom.

Help Identify Costa Rican Anoles

I recently saw these four anoles on a trip to Costa Rica. All four were sighted in La Fortuna in the province of Alajuela. They were sighted on July 18th and 19th, all within a few meters of a forested stream. I have some ideas about their ID’s, but am not completely sure. Can anyone help me with their identification?

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20170719_061318 20170719_061414

This first anole was found on a tree trunk near the stream at night, while the second one was found on a pole in the morning. Both Anolis lionotus?

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This third one was found on a low shrub in the morning. Anolis limifrons?

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The fourth anole was found on a low-growing shrub at night. Anolis lemurinus?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Shades of Bumpus: Polar Vortex-Induced Natural Selection on Cold Tolerance in the Green Anole

Shane Campbell-Staton had fortuitously measured the thermal physiology of a number of populations of the green anole, Anolis carolinensis, the summer before 2014’s Polar Vortex. So, he went back and examined the survivors. And sure enough, in the most southerly populations, those most strongly affected by the cold snap, natural selection had occurred. Shane tells Scientific American all about it in this podcast. The nifty figure above comes from the University of Illinois’ press release.

 

More Information on the Knight Anole Invasion of the Turks and Caicos

We reported recently that knight anoles (Anolis equestris) have shown up in the T&C. Here’s more on the story from B Naqqi Manco, the Terrestrial Ecologist at the Department of Environment and Maritime Affairs, Turks and Caicos Islands Government:

Cuban knight anoles are currently known from two sites on Providenciales: Vicinity of Beaches Resort in The Bight and Amanyara Resort on Northwest Point. Both populations showed up after the importation of large trees for landscaping from Miami. The properties are both irrigated pretty heavily to keep the bigger trees going. The tree imports were brought in before the Department of Agriculture was fully operative, so unfortunately things got in at that time that probably shouldn’t have made it through.

I don’t have confirmation of the knight anoles breeding, but I know The Bight population has been spreading with individuals having been found on adjacent properties and in a nearby residential neighbourhood. I would be very surprised if they’re not breeding on either site. Unfortunately we don’t have the capacity to monitor them well but this is something we want to keep a closer eye on and it would make a worthwhile research project for a student or intern. 

Thus far, they have not been reported from any other island or cay. 

New Paper Says Anoles Are the Reason for Dave Wake’s Career-Long Focus on Salamanders

Dave Wake: the younger years

Dave Wake: the younger years

The paper, by Nancy Staub and Rachel Mueller and just out in Copeia, is a delightful biography of DBW, as he is referred to by his lab and many others. As for the anole bit, you’ll have to read it to find out.

Knight Anoles Introduced to Turks and Caicos

We’ve previously reported on Anolis equestris introduced to the Bahamas and elsewhere, and brown anoles (A. sagrei) introduced to Turks and Caicos. Now the knight anole is in T&C and people are worried about the impact they may have.

Page 57 of 146

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