

Foods of Two Species of Plethodon (Caudata: 

 Plethodontidae) from Georgia and Alabama 



Carlos D. Camp 



Department of Zoology, 

 University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602 



AND 



Luke L. Bozeman 



Department of Zoology- Entomology, 

 Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36830 



ABSTRACT.— The stomachs of 34 Plethodon websteri and 55 P. ser- 

 ratus from Georgia and Alabama were examined for food. Acarines 

 and Collembola were major food items in stomachs of smaller P. web- 

 steri whereas ants were predominant in the stomachs of larger individ- 

 uals. Ants were the dominant food item in the stomachs of P. serratus. 



Very little is known concerning the ecology of the Southern Redback 

 Salamander, Plethodon serratus Grobman, which was recently taxo- 

 nomically separated from the Redback Salamander, Plethodon cinereus 

 (Highton and Webster 1976). Several reports exist on the foods of P. 

 cinereus (Blanchard 1928; Hamilton 1932; Jameson 1944; Jaeger 1972; 

 Caldwell and Jones 1973; Fraser 1976), but the only report concerning 

 the prey of P. serratus is a single statement by Johnson (1977) that it 

 feeds on arthropods. The foods of the recently described Webster's 

 Salamander, Plethodon websteri Highton (formerly considered Plethodon 

 dorsalis), have also not been reported, although Holman (1955) dis- 

 cussed the foods of P. dorsalis in Indiana. We present here an account 

 of the foods of P. serratus and P. websteri in Georgia and Alabama. 



Fifty-five P. serratus were collected from Fulton and Harris coun- 

 ties, Georgia, during March and April of 1980. During the same period, 

 34 P. websteri were collected from Upson County, Georgia, and Lee 

 County, Alabama. Specimens were sacrificed in the field in chloretone 

 and preserved in 10% formalin to terminate digestion. In the laboratory, 

 stomach contents were placed in a petri dish lined with a paper grid (2.5 

 mm x 2.5 mm) and examined under a dissecting microscope. In order to 

 determine relative prey proportion in the diet, visual estimates of rela- 

 tive area occupied by prey items were made by comparing each prey 

 item to the grid and estimating the number of grid squares it occupied. 

 Snout-vent length (SVL) was recorded for each specimen. The foods of 

 different size classes were compared when appropriate. 



Nineteen specimens of P. websteri had SVLs of 22-27 mm; the 

 remaining 15 specimens each has a SVL greater than 30 mm. Smaller 



Brimleyana No. 6: 163-166. December 1981. 163 



