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
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
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)
Here are a few more spider photos to wrap up this blog post.
Jumping spider (Salticidae: Phiale cf. guttata) eating an assassin bug (Reduviidae)
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.
- Ecomorphology of La Selva Anoles - June 18, 2021
- Arthropod Predators of Anoles - August 10, 2017
- Identification Request for Panamanian Anole - April 16, 2017
Bob G. Cannon II
I have witnessed (but lack photographs) of Anolis carolinensis and the brown Anole that inhabits SW Florida being eaten by Florida Black Widow spiders, Latrodectus mactans.
Skip Lazell
I have certainly seen a lot of examples of this…. Not sure if I published on them though…. Skip
Brian Folt
Hi Christian:
Yes, I agree that this is an interesting topic. Craig Guyer did his dissertation studying population ecology of Norops humilis at La Selva Biological Station, and he found that the most abundant predator of humilis is in fact spiders of the family Ctenidae.
While most papers desribing vertebrate predation by spiders at La Selva refer to the species Cupiennius coccineus, there are at least six species of ctenids present at La Selva. I am skeptical how well herpetologists have been identifying spider species in this literature. Witold Lapinski (a German arachnologist) and I recently collaborated on a short paper where we reviewed the spider-herp predation literature in Costa Rica, correct a number of spider mis-identifications, and a reported a series of new predator-prey records. This paper is “in press” in the journal Phyllomedusa. I can send you our manuscript.
I recently completed my dissertation working at La Selva also, where I was following up ideas proposed by Craig. For one project, I was interested in modeling predator-prey interactions between ctenids and small vertebrates (humilis, Craugastor bransfordii, Oophaga pumilio). There was a recent Anole Annals post that described my talk on this topic at JMIH. I can send you this manuscript as well (it is submitted).
Cheers,
Brian
Rolly Polly Anole
Anoles like to sleep on our muscadine vine, on the thinner outer branches that the big, invasive tree frogs have trouble reaching without disturbance.
The subtropical green anoles sleep soundly through the night, the light of my flashlight doesn’t even phase them, but the tropical brown anoles look wild eyed and paranoid, as if something could grab them at any moment! Seems their fears are well founded.