Vol. 35, pp. 1-4 March 20, 1922 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE /- 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON^"^^ 



FOOD HABITS OF CROTAPHYTUS WISLIZENII BAIRD 



AND GIRARD. 



BY HERBERT J. PACK. 



The results of an examination of stomach contents of the 

 leopard lizard, Crotaphytus wislizenii, are presented in the 

 accompanying table. These lizards were collected during the 

 last days of May and the first half of June in 1920 and 1921. 

 They were taken in various localities in Utah from the southern 

 end of Great Salt Lake to St. George in the extreme Southwest, 

 thus representing nearly the entire range of the lizards in the 

 State. 



A study of the table shows that this Hzard is entirely insectivorous and 

 carnivorous. Five of the eighteen had eaten other lizards — one a full- 

 grown Cnemido'phorus tessellatus! All of the others had taken insects. 

 Of these, bees and wasps, lepidoptera, largely larvae, beetles, flies and 

 grasshoppers were most frequently represented. The grains of sand 

 found in five specimens were likely ingested accidentally in catching 

 insects. It is significant that not a single specimen contained vegetable 

 remains. 



These results are in accord with the findings of Ruthven in New Mexico 

 and Arizona' where he found insects and lizards, and in Nevada^ where he 

 found only insects. They agree also with Taylor's report' of finding a 

 Sceloporus graciosns and seeing one chasing a cicada; with Richardson* who 

 writes that "its food consists to some extent of other lizards, for a whole 

 Cnemidophorus tigris, the tail of another, and a Uia stansburiana were 

 found in the stomachs examined"; with Camp^ who found a full-grown 

 gridiron-tailed lizard; with Stejneger* in finding a full-grown Uta stans- 

 buriana in one specimen and a mature Phrynosovia platyrhinos and 



lAm. Mus. Nat. History, Vol. 23, Art. 23, pp. 517-518. 



20cc. Papers, Mus. of Zoology, U. of Mich., No. 8, p. 17. 



3U. of Calif. Pub. in Zoology, Vol. 7, pp. 347-348. 



4U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc, Vol. 48, p. 408. 



5U. of Calif. Pub. in Zoology, Vol. 12, No. 17, p. 522. 



6N. A. Fauna, No. 7, p. 167. 



1— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. 35, 1922. (1) 



