Tag: predation

Nephila Predation on Brown Anole

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On September 21, 2013

In Introduced Anoles, Natural History Observations

A brown anole is caught up in the web of an Argiope orb-weaving spider

A brown anole is caught up in the web of an Nephila orb-weaving spider

Anoles eating spiders and spiders turning the table on anoles are well reported in both the literature and here on Anole Annals (1, 2). Recently, biologists Sarah French and Matthew Wolak of UC Riverside encountered this unfortunate Anolis sagrei that had been caught up in the web of an Nephila orb-weaving spider. Here’s what they had to say about the enounter: “We were at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton. Matt & I were walking down the boardwalk, totally creeped out by the abundance of spiders, when we encountered the anole caught in a web. He was still alive, but pretty well caught. The spider didn’t seem entirely sure what to do with it, but she seemed to occasionally bite it, which caused the anole to jerk & thrash about for a few seconds. It was hard not to feel sympathy for the anole, but native species trump exotic, and so we refrained from interfering! (But we also didn’t stick around for too long to watch).”

3P QuickCureClay Demo Video (With More Anole Sculptures!)

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On December 18, 2012

In Anole Art, Literature, and Humor, Anoles in Commerce

In my last post, I discussed my use of a new polymer clay, 3P QuickCureClay, in sculpting anoles.  Several commenters were interested in learning more about this medium and its potential for making models to assess predator marks.

I’ve now created a demonstration video of the clay which displays its unique properties and versatility (plus, newly finished anole sculptures make an appearance!):

 

 

Thin Snakes Eat Big Anoles

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On October 18, 2011

In Natural History Observations, New Research

Blunt-headed treesnake eating an Anolis petersi.Photo by Elí García-Padilla from the March issue of Herp. Review.

The blunt-headed treesnake, Imantodes cenchoa, is renowned for its anolivory, but being a pencil thin snake, one might have thought that its carnage would be limited to the smaller members of anole nation. Not so, as two Natural History Notes in the March, 2011 issue of Herpetological Review report. García-Padilla and Luna-Alcántara report a treesnake eating a large A. petersi in the Los Tuxtlas region of Mexico (photo above), and Ray et al. provide the details of a 56 gram I. cenchoa that was found with a 19 gram A. frenatus and a 1.3. gram anole egg in its stomach. Justice was served in the latter case, as the snake died soon after capture, and an autopsy revealed a perforated stomach, attributed to the anole’s claw, presumably during post-ingestion attempts  by the anole to pull a Gordon and escape.

Cleaner Birds Removing Parasites From Anoles?

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On October 9, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Here's a photo of a Carolina Wren that's caught a brown anole. But this story is something different. Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/24073599@N05/4545405419/

Brian Langerhans, he of mosquitofish fame (but with some anole credentials, such as here  and here), writes from Raleigh, NC:

A strange interaction was observed this morning and I’m wondering if you know what’s going on. There are a number of A. carolinensis that live around our house, and today something weird happened. It’s a pretty cool morning, but a big male was on a ledge on our porch. Two Carolina wrens flew over to the anole, the anole sat still while one pecked on it’s body and tail, and then extended it’s dewlap and opened it’s mouth for a while (but was otherwise still) as the other wren pecked around and in it’s mouth. Do you know what might have been happening here? You’d think the birds were harrassing the anole (and maybe it’s too cold for the lizard to fight back), but it didn’t seem like it. There’s no way they could have been cleaning it (like removing mites), right?  Any thoughts?

Anolis scriptus- An Archipelagic Anole

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On August 15, 2011

In Notes from the Field

Though they are not as flashy as some of their West Indian relatives, Anolis scriptus, the Southern Bahamas Anole, is an ecologically important and interesting component of the herpetofauna of the distal end of the Bahamas Archipelago. Small and brown to brownish green, they seem to be rarely photographed or discussed, so I thought they deserved a post on Anole Annals. These are individuals from the Turks and Caicos Islands- where they are ubiquitous on most emergent land- from the largest islands at over 290 square km to the smallest rocks with some vegetation. Interestingly, this species has been shown to modify its perch height in response to the presence of predators (more on predation in a later post). When curly-tailed lizards (Leiocephalus psammodromus) are around, the anoles are more arboreal (Smith 1994;1995). However, we have found this to be the case mostly on smaller islands, while on larger islands the anoles will still use the ground and lower tree trunks, even in close proximity to high densities of curly-tailed lizards.

JMIH 2011: More Anole Posters

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On July 12, 2011

In New Research

The Sunday night poster session at JMIH 2011 had a few more anole offerings.  Melissa Moody from Iowa State reported on a laboratory experiment on the developmental and fitness consequences of varying Anolis sagrei egg incubation temperature and humidity.  Anolis sagrei eggs seem relatively robust to the variation experienced during this experiment.  Paul Cupp of Eastern Kentucky University asked whether ground skinks (Scincella lateralis) and green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) could detect chemical deposits from the Eastern Milk Snakes (Lampropeltis triangulum); he found evidence that the skinks could detect these deposits while the anoles could not.  Finally, Mingna Zhuang discussed comparative gliding performance of Anolis carolinensis and Anolis sagrei.  She found that A. carolinensis is a considerably better glider, perhaps due to the fact that it has a flatter gliding posture than A. sagrei.

A Highly Anecdotal Account of a Most Remarkable Anole

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On June 24, 2011

In Natural History Observations

“You’ve gotta see this!” my fiancé Mark called to me one morning.  He was outside, which could mean only one thing: a wildlife encounter was underway.  Living in a semi-rural neighborhood in Florida, you never knew what you would see, from a mated pair of Sandhill Cranes walking down the street with their young, to Gopher Tortoises excavating burrows in the front yard.

I walked downstairs to the concrete area under our elevated house where Mark was staring at something on the ground.  I looked down to see a frog (Cuban Treefrog) with the tail of an A. carolinensis protruding from its gullet.

“I knew that lizard,” Mark said forlornly.

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Anolis Predation, Again

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On February 17, 2011

In Natural History Observations

On a recent trip to Puerto Rico, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon an Alsophis portoricensis eating an adult male Anolis cristatellus. I was immediately reminded of Yoel’s post about A. sagrei and a black racer, and decided to set up my video camera. The entire event took about seventeen minutes, but sadly I missed the most interesting part – the capture. For those of you who don’t want to sit through the ten-minute clip, I recommend checking out the 3:50 mark [where the anole has his dewlap extended] and the last 30 seconds or so [to see both an interesting witness to the feeding event and the snake’s attempt to climb the tree after completing its meal].

Hungry for more information on Alsophis feeding behavior, particularly as it relates to anoles? Check out the work by Javier Rodríguez-Robles, Manuel Leal, & Richard Thomas, over at Javier’s home-page here.

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