1980] 
Hook & Matthews — Biology of Oxebelus 
25 
Table 1. Prey weights for most abundant prey captured by Oxybelus sericeus and a 
summary of 903 prey records from St. Catherine’s Island, Georgia. Weights are from 
frozen and subsequently thawed prey and are presumably slightly less than fresh 
weight due to dehydration. 
Species 
Number 
recorded 
from all 
nests 
% 
Average 
weight 
(mg) 
Range 
Sample 
size 
OTITIDAE 
Chaetopsis apicalis Johnson 
209 
21.3 
0.34 
0.13-0.59 
103 
Chaetopsis aenea (Wiedemann) 
DOLICHOPODIDAE 
482 
38.1 
0.65 
0.28-1.18 
184 
Nanomyina litorea Robinson 
The remaining 4% of the 
prey consisted of: 
184 
36.6 
0.9 
0.34-1.64 
177 
DOLICHOPODIDAE 
Paraclius sp. (1) 
Paraclius hybridus Melander (2) 
Paraclius filifer Aldrich (1) 
Thinophilis sp. (1) 
Thinophilis frontalis Van Duzee (5) 
Pelasloneurus sp. (2) 
Hypocharassus gladiator Mik (4) 
Hypocharassus pruinosus (Wheeler) (2) 
EPHYDR1DAE 
Notiphila bispinosa Cresson (1) 
Lipochaeta solossonae Cresson (1) 
Polytrichophora conciliata Cresson (1) 
Cirrula fuscifemur (Steyskal) (7) 
tunneling below the surface. On three occasions, Conomyrma ants 
discovered active nests at the Boiler site and removed prey after 
recruitment of additional workers. Conomyrma ants were able to 
locate nests even after final closure. When excavating a completed 
nest, workers removed sand from the burrow until a stocked cell was 
reached. Mold accounted for 36% (n=33) cell mortality at the Boiler 
site (sometimes high tides covered this site). 
Male Reproductive Strategies. Once a female began to nest, a 
male became closely associated with that nest as long as the female 
actively provisioned. Males perched near the entrance, either on the 
sand or a raised object (Fig. 2). Periodically the male changed 
positions, confining its activity to within 0.5 m of the nest. Guarding 
males often entered nests, particularly if females were late in 
returning, and sometimes stationed themselves head-out in the 
entrance, a guarding position typically used by O. subulatus (Peckham, 
1977 and pers. obs.). Territories encompassed an area approximately 
1 m in diameter surrounding the nest entrance. Males chased all 
