Category: Natural History Observations Page 19 of 34

Karen Cusick, author of Lizards on the Fence, writes Daffodil’s Photo Blog, on which she daily chronicles in photographs the nature goings-on in her backyard. And these goings on often feature green and brown anoles, which go about their business and interact with each other on her back fence. Included are some lovely shots of displaying, eating, fighting, and more. Worth a look.

The post from a week ago Friday, August 24th, reports an encounter between a female A. carolinensis and a small A. sagrei. We’ve had a number of previous posts on AA about carolinensis-sagrei interactions and I think it’s still an open question how often the two species are actively aggressive to each other. In this light, Karen’s observations were interesting, and she has provided some photos. Here’s her report:

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We’ve discussed anole nectarivory here before, but if you had any doubts, this should satisfy them.

John Rahn regaled us with tales of the Big Kahuna, his big backyard sagrei (a must read, if you don’t recall it). Here’s some more. First, he’s seen BK stand like this for quite a while. I have also seen anoles do the same. I wonder what’s up. Maybe they’re into yoga? A new pose–Sideways Lizard?

And here’s another photo. John writes: “I’ve noticed that when they catch/eat something, they rub their faces(?), or their catch on the concrete, like he’s doing here. What’s that all about?” Indeed, what is that all about? I’ve seen it, too. Are they using the ground as their own personal napkin? But then why do it to prey items, too? Thoughts?

Editor’s note: check out this video, referred to in the comment below by reader Beachton

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/1986146]

Some previous posts on Anole Annals have stimulated excellent discussions regarding the care of Anolis eggs in a laboratory setting.  To this, I’d like to share a few tips as a hobbyist who has successfully incubated A. carolinensis eggs outside the laboratory for many years.

A month before breeding season, I place a small organic (fertilizer-free) potted basil plant in each cage.  This plant is watered weekly to keep the soil moist enough to prevent egg dessication without making the soil too heavy for easy digging.  Every few days, I comb through the soil with my fingers to check for eggs.

An A. carolinensis digging a hole to bury her egg

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Photo by Tony Gamble.

We at Anole Annals are a little obsessed with what’s going on between anoles and those anole-wannabees, the day geckos, in Hawaii. Really, someone’s gotta’ study this. Here’s a photo kindly provided by Tony Gamble demonstrating beyond a shadow of a doubt that the two species coexist. Here’s Tony’s take on whether the species interact:

Photo by Tony Gamble

“I didn’t see too many interactions between geckos and anoles. I would see large male anoles walk around and display in places loaded with day geckos. The geckos would certainly get out of the way of the brutish anoles but I did not observe anoles actually chasing or attacking geckos. Both species seem to be far more concerned with intraspecific interactions (attached photo on left shows a male Anolis eyeing the female on the other side of the fence). In some places they co-occurred at incredibly high densities (see photo below the fold) and given the abundance of roaches and spiders food does not seem like its a limiting factor. In Kona, which is fairly dry, anoles tend to be found only in areas that are irrigated (e.g. gardens, hotels, strip malls). Day geckos are more abundant in those places but can be found almost everywhere – even away from developed areas. It is possible interspecific interactions are different on more mesic parts of the big island and on other islands where more area is open to anoles. This is certainly an experiment in progress – we just need to find some time to observe it.”

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From http://www.thedrillpress.com/tex/2008-11-01/tex-2008-11-01-splinter-bgreenwood-04.shtml

AA reader Jim Jackson writes:

“I would like to suggest a topic for a post on Anole Annals:  Has anyone besides me observed a collapse in “their” local A. carolinensis population?  I live near Tallahassee, Florida, and have always had a large population of Green Anoles on my property; during September, 2011, there were at least 30 individuals around my house and on shrubs and small trees in the yard.  Even in May, 2012, there were a dozen.  Yesterday around noon I found an emaciated hatchling under a cover object.  Very odd.  I searched the property for active anoles and found none.

There has been a moderate drought here since 2010, and the larger-bodied flying insects (bees/butterflies) on flowers seem less abundant than in 2009.  Reduced food resources could explain a population decline, but the drastic change on my one acre seems hard to attribute solely to starvation.  There are no sagrei on my property.”

Anyone got any thoughts?

A few weeks ago, we collected the common grass-bush anole Anolis pulchellus around the El Verde Field Station for an enclosure experiment looking at interspecific interactions. We stored the lizards in baggies in the lab for a day or two, moved them to their enclosures for just under three weeks, and we’ve recently finished recapturing them from the enclosures. After measuring their growth and sampling their diets, we put them back where we found them so they could continue on their way with a great story to tell their friends.

One unlucky anole, however, never made it to its enclosure. When I retrieved its bag to take to the experiment site I found the following tragic scene:

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