These stunning images of Puerto Rican emerald anoles, Anolis evermanni, drinking nectar are from the website of Alfredo D.Colón Archilla who has also published an account of the observations.
I highly recommend his website for anyone interested in some great photos of Puerto Rican herps for use in future posts; you can also read about how he uses his photos elsewhere, including on EOL, on the home page.
As an added bonus here is a much lower quality photo of Anolis grahami doing the same thing.
Editor’s note: we’ve published on anole nectivory before, most recently here.
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Pat Shipman
Again, not as wonderful as the photos of evermanni, but simply for comparison,here is A. maynardi licking nectar from a Crown of Thorns. Maynards seem very fond of crown of thorns plant, and each plant seems to have one or two regulars.
Pat Shipman
Looking at this, it is hard to see the maynard. Look at the lower right corner, you can just see a triangular, long-nosed head and a tail in the background.
Skip Lazell
I believe nectivory and frugivory are standard dietary behavior virtually throughout Anolis sensu lato. Afterall, they are just dwarf iguanas.
Ricardo Kriebel
The plant is in the family Melastomataceae and most likely the genus Mecranium. This is the first time I see a lizard visiting flowers of this family and have never seen a report in the literature. I wonder if the lizard might pollinate the plant in which case it would be the first report of lizard pollination in one of the most diverse families of flowering plants in the world. Most Melastomataceae are pollinated by buzzing bees.
Ricardo Kriebel
Oh sorry, I had not seen the publication! The species is there! The first report of a lizard visiting a species of Melastomataceae is now published! Still curious if it might be able to pollinate the plant.