prey – Anole Annals

One of the loudest anole meals I’ve witnessed.

During one recent afternoon’s field work, I heard an unusual noise in the botanical garden I was working in: a sound like someone crunching and crinkling a foil potato chip bag. Tracing the sound from about 20 feet away, I did not find a snacking plant enthusiast, but rather a young Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in survey posture who had apparently just snagged a large dragonfly out of mid-air. The anole chowed down on its prey while keeping a weather eye on me and conducting a few half-hearted displays to let me know it was aware of my presence. As the anole continued to masticate its rather large afternoon meal, it moved to a higher perch away from the prying eyes of this anolologist.

The dragonfly, a Regal Darner (Coryphaeschna ingens), is a common species in the southeastern United States and an accomplished aerial predator. It was also more than a mouthful for this young knight, which had to chew with its mouth open for over four minutes (and still wasn’t finished when it escaped my view); quite the prey handling time! And yet more evidence that this largest of anole species is willing to take a chance on any prey item that might fit into its maw even if it takes a little work.

An impressive snag for such a young anole.

A Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei) attempts to make a meal of a large centipede.

Anoles eat a wide variety of food items present in their environments, including all sorts of arthropods, and, occasionally, smaller anoles! We might expect that anoles would choose safe, appropriately-sized prey that would reduce chances of injury and guarantee a meal. However, some anoles, including brown anoles (Anolis sagrei), have been seen taking on potential prey that are either quite large (enough that we might foresee trouble actually swallowing the prey item) or poisonous or venomous, such as caterpillars and centipedes.

Another attempt at subduing the centipede.

Margaret Griffis O’Brien, a contributor to iNaturalist, recently observed just such a showdown on the mean streets of Miami between a brown anole and a centipede nearly its own body size. The anole made repeated attempts to take down the centipede before it was scared away from its potential meal by an intervening automobile. The centipede was injured enough from the battle that it was unable to leave the road and later in the day was found flattened by the continued traffic. The centipede, either an eastern bark centipede or the invasive Rhysida longipes, was a member of the family Scolopendridae, a group of centipedes known to possess powerful and painful (to humans, at least!) venoms.

The anole’s predation attempt was characterized by a lot of waiting for opportune moments to attack followed by quick strikes at the centipede.

Given that large, venomous centipedes have been documented in the diet of A. sagrei previously, it would be interesting to know if anoles are able to consume centipedes without being envenomated, how susceptible they are to centipede venom, and whether consuming these large, potentially dangerous prey items is advantageous for these lizards.

All photos by Margaret Griffis O’Brien.

Tag: prey

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