PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #23: Animal Ecology: Behavior and Sociobiology. Presiding: P. Brunkow.
Tuesday, August 7, 2001. 8:00 AM to 11:45 AM. Hall of Ideas E.
Seasonal and diel activity patterns of Italian wall lizards in New York, USA.
Burke, Russell1, Ner, Sylwia1, 1
ABSTRACT- Italian wall lizards(=ruin lizards), Podarcis sicula campestris, have been successfully introduced into two locations in the U.S.A., both at about the same latitude as their native range. We observed the seasonal and diel behavior of one of these, the population in New York, from 1998-2000. The length of the diel period during which lizards were observed to be active varied from no activity during winter to 11 hours / day in July and August. For both years a bimodal activity pattern was evident during the warm months, while a unimodal activity pattern was observed in spring and fall. The juveniles appeared to be active during much colder weather than the adult lizards, and the diel cycles of juveniles appeared to be less predictable than that of adults. During the spring, summer, and fall we observed the same general pattern of activity as has been reported for an Italian population; however, the average level of activity was much lower in NY in these seasons. In NY lizards were not active at all in the winter, while in Italy and in Kansas, U.S.A., lizards were active at least sporadically all months of the year. We suggest these differences are not due to simple differences in average temperatures between Italy, KS, and NY, but instead to the much lower minimum temperatures in NY.
KEY WORDS: Podarcis sicula, lizard, behavior, introduction