G PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 122 



they include an observation and basking perch, cover near the ground, 

 and a sleeping site. 



Fundamental Requirements 



Food. — As is true of almost all lizards of its size, A. lineaiopus 

 feed primarily on insects and other small arthropods, occasionally 

 on very small vertebrates and snails. 



Anolis lineatopus waits for its prey on a perch a few inches to several 

 feet above the ground rather than foraging for it. This hunting 

 technique is common in visually oriented insectivorous lizards and 

 contrasts with the active searching technique that is typically used by 

 olfactoril}^ oriented lizards such as skinks and teiids as well as some 

 visiuxlly oriented iguanids. 



Some prey A. lincato^yus can catch without having to move, but 

 usually it must move and frequently to the ground or nearb};- foliage. 

 Large individuals move farthest to catch something, sometimes going 

 four or five feet. The approach is a quick run, often broken by one 

 or more pauses, and usually a pause just as the prey is reached. 

 During a pause A. lineatojius cocks its head and looks at the prey with 

 one eye and then shifts back to binocular vision. The binocular 

 vision presumably uses the temporal fovea and allows better judge- 

 ment of distance and du-ection, the monocular ^^sion probably uses 

 the central fovea, which may give better definition (Underwood, 

 1951) . Sometimes A. lineatopus leaps several inches to seize an insect. 

 A small insect is frequently eaten where caught but a larger one is 

 usually carried back to a perch. 



The food items in the stomachs of 45 A. lineatopus are shown in 

 table 1. The anoles were collected over a period of a week in an 

 area 10 x 50 3^ards in IMona. Thej^ were killed shortly after capture. 



Table 1. — Food items in the stomachs of 4o Aiiolis lineatopus 



