98 J. O. Whitaker, Jr.. G. D. Hartman, and R. Hein 



and the myobiid Blarinobia simplex by Ewing (1938). The purpose of 

 this paper is to present data on the food habits and ectoparasites of B. 

 carolinensis from South Carolina, and to compare these with data 

 that have been reported for B. brevicauda. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



Shrews were collected over a 21-day period in May 1986 from 

 the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory's Mill Creek small mammal 

 trapping grid. The Mill Creek grid is located in a mixed hardwood 

 cove forest located on the United States Department of Energy's Savannah 

 River Site, near Aiken, South Carolina, and is on the western-most 

 Coastal Plain of the State; specifics of grid dimensions and habitat 

 structure have been described elsewhere (Gentry et al. 1968, 1971). 

 One Museum Special and one Victor mouse trap were set at each 

 station of the grid; traps were baited with peanut butter and checked 

 daily. Captured shrews were placed in individual plastic bags and 

 frozen for later examination. 



Stomach contents of each animal were removed and then identified 

 under a dissecting microscope. The volume of each item in each 

 stomach was estimated visually. Data were compiled as percent frequencies 

 (percentage of shrews with each item) and percent volumes (average 

 percentage of each food) of each item observed in the entire sample. 



We collected ectoparasites by examining the fur with a dissecting 

 microscope. When ectoparasites were observed to occur in relatively 

 small numbers, all individuals were collected; when the numbers of 

 ectoparasites were large, the numbers individuals of each species were 

 estimated, and samples were taken of each. Data on food habits and 

 ectoparasites were compared to similar data for B. brevicauda from 

 Indiana (Mumford and Whitaker 1982). Shrews from Indiana were 

 collected from a variety of habitats. 



RESULTS 

 Foods 



Forty-five of the 50 individuals of B. carolinensis examined 

 contained food, totaling 23 items (Table 1). The five dominant foods 

 were slugs and snails (18.5% of total volume), the hypogenous fungus 

 Endogone and related genera (16.3%), earthworms (14.8%), unidentified 

 adult beetles (9.6%), and unidentified beetle larvae (5.8%). Total volumes 

 of Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Diptera were 17.8, 6.0, and 6.7%, 

 respectively. No single food item clearly was dominant in the sample 

 of B. carolinensis; slugs and snails, Endogone, and earthworms were 





