Anolis Porcatus on the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’S Giant Serpent
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WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSIRCF REPTILES • VOL15, &NO AMPHIBIANS 4 • DEC 2008 189 • 26(1):35–38 • APR 2019 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE ARTICLES The. Chasing Cuban Bullsnakes (Pituophis cateniferGreen sayi) in Wisconsin: Anole, Anolis porcatus On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 (Squamata:. The Shared History of TreeboasDactyloidae): (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: Catering is the Best A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198 RESEARCH ARTICLES Luis F. de Armas and Manuel Iturriaga . Instituto deThe Ecología Texas Horned y Sistemática, Lizard in Central Carretera and Western de Varona Texas No. ....................... 11835, entre Emily OrienteHenry, Jason y Lindero, Brewer, Krista Reparto Mougey, Parajón, and Gad Municipio Perry 204 Boyeros, . The KnightLa Anole Habana (Anolis 19, equestris C.P. )11900, in Florida Cuba ([email protected], [email protected]) .............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212 CONSERVATION ALERT Photographs by the senior author. World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 . More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225 he Cuban Green Anole, Gray 1841 is The diet of these lizards consists mainly of insects such as HUSBANDRYAnolis porcatus one of the three most frequently encountered Cuban ants, beetles, butterflies, cicadas, cockroaches, crickets, drag- T . Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226 anoles in cities, towns, and anthropic areas, where they are onflies, flies, grasshoppers, mosquitoes, thrips, and moths very common in backyards,PROFILE gardens, and even in some resi- (Collette 1962; Schwartz and Henderson 1991; Armas 2008, . Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234 dential buildings (Rodríguez-Schettino 1999; Henderson 2011, 2014; Rodríguez-Schettino 1999, 2012) Additional and Powell 2009).COMMENTARY records document predatory behaviors on scorpions (Armas . The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238 BOOK REVIEW . Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243 CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251 FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252 Front Cover. Shannon Plummer. Back Cover. Michael Kern Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as accullabo. Figs. 1–2. Cuban Green Anoles (Anolis porcatus)on the terrace and in the backyard of an urban home in San Antonio de los Baños, Artemisa Province, Cuba: (1)an adult male eating an earthworm while perched on a metallic flower-pot 30 cm above the ground; and (2)an adult male predating a juvenile male Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei)on a wall 1.9 m above the ground. Copyright © 2019. Luis F. de Armas. All rights reserved. 35 IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324 DE ARMAS AND ITURRIAGA IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(1):35–38 • APR 2019 Figs. 3–4. Cuban Green Anoles (Anolis porcatus)on the terrace and in the backyard of an urban home in San Antonio de los Baños, Artemisa Province, Cuba: (3) a male eating a ripe Barbados cherry (Malpighia punicifolia); and (4) a male feeding on slices of mango (Mangifera indica). et al. 2000), spiders (Rodríguez-Schettino 1999, 2012), earth- seems to have been a learned behavior, suggesting the pos- worms (unpublished data, Fig. 1), tadpoles of Osteopilus sep- sibility of an increasingly wider feeding spectrum. Rodríguez- tentrionalis (L.V. Moreno in Rodríguez-Schettino 1999), and Schettino (1999) noted that A. porcatus “takes prepared foods smaller anoles (J. Novo in Socarrás et al. 1988; Rodriguez- such as meals for captive mammals and birds,” but she did not Schettino 1999; LFA, pers. obs., Fig. 2), and even conspe- mention which items (ripe fruits?) were involved (the mam- cific hatchlings (G. Alayón-García in Socarrás et al. 1988). mals involved seemed to be Cuban Hutias [Capromyidae]). These are facultatively omnivorous lizards that will ingest Herein we provide new observations of A. porcatus nectar and/or pollen (Townsend 2003), as well as ripe fruits feeding in and around an urban home in San Antonio de like guavas (Psidium guajaba), custard apples (Annona squa- los Baños (22º53’36.49”N, 82º30’35.21”W; 75 m a.s.l.; mosa), and Barbados cherries (Malpighia punicifolia) (Otero datum Google Earth), Artemisa Province, Cuba. From June 1950; Rodríguez-Schettino 1999; unpublished data, Fig. 3). to November 2018, we frequently observed adult and sub- Silva-Lee (1985) mentioned that A. porcatus sometimes licks adult A. porcatus of both sexes feeding on leftovers of meals tree sap, perhaps to hydrate itself or searching for organic sub- prepared for domestic animals. Preferred items were slices of stances such as amino acids. ripe fruits, mainly mango (Mangifera indica), papaya (Carica Some synanthropic species of lizards tolerate human papaya), and watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris), but cucumber presence and consequently make good use of certain trophic (Cucumis sativus), avocado (Persea americana), and cooked resources that are obtainable only in human environments foods (squash, Cucurbita maxima; rice, Oriza sativa; sweet (Cajigas et al. 2015). However, for A. porcatus, the only potato, Ipomea batata) were readily eaten (Figs. 4–11). In known instance of such activity is in Silva-Lee (1985), who some instances, more than one lizard (usually two) came to observed an adult female licking a piece of a chewy candy eat at the same time (Fig. 8), and generally the larger individ- dissolved by natural sunlight. According to that author, this ual dominated the smaller one. On 25 August, near midday, Figs. 5–6. Cuban Green Anoles (Anolis porcatus) on the terrace of an urban home in San Antonio de los Baños, Artemisa Porvince, Cuba: (5) feeding on slices of papaya (Carica papaya) and (6) avocado (Persea americana); arrows in the inset show bites in the avocado slice. 36 DE ARMAS AND ITURRIAGA IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(1):35–38 • APR 2019 Figs. 10–11. Cuban Green Anoles (Anolis porcatus) on the terrace of an urban home in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba eating cooked sweet potato (Ipomea batata). of benefiting from leftovers resulting from human activities. Such behavioral adaptations allow lizards to acquire consider- able energy with little effort and might compensate for the paucity of certain foods or prey in urban environments. These observations also document the consumption of cooked foods by a Cuban anole for the first time. Also, our observations of frugivory by A. porcatus during the course of several years and those by Otero (1950) confirm that this can occur frequently throughout the year. Figs. 7–9. Cuban Green Anoles (Anolis porcatus) on the terrace of an urban Acknowledgements home in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba: (7) eating cucumber (Cucumis We are indebted to Sonia Seuc and Leonardo Chichizola sativus), (8) cooked squash (Cucurbita maxima), and (9) a small lump of rice. of MEGO NETWORKS S.A.C, from Lima, Peru and to Lázaro W. Vinola, Montana State University, Bozeman for an adult male ate spaghetti remains in a dog’s food dish. At critical reviews of this manuscript. Seriocha Amaro from the 1205 h on 10