. The ecological impact of man on the south Florida herpetofauna . Figure 14. Green Bark Anole (Ano/is distichus doniinicensis). (LP) a relatively luxuriant growth of large trees, especially exotic fruit trees, and ornamental trees such as the black olive. Perhaps, one reason for this lizard's success in urban areas of Dade County is the large number of food items available to it. Colette (1961), Ruibal (1964). Brach (1976) and Dalrymple (1980) have reported A. eqiies- tris as feeding on the following: palm and Ficus fruits, leaves, spiders, leafhoppers, cicadas, cockroaches, beetles, treefrog
. The ecological impact of man on the south Florida herpetofauna . Figure 14. Green Bark Anole (Ano/is distichus doniinicensis). (LP) a relatively luxuriant growth of large trees, especially exotic fruit trees, and ornamental trees such as the black olive. Perhaps, one reason for this lizard's success in urban areas of Dade County is the large number of food items available to it. Colette (1961), Ruibal (1964). Brach (1976) and Dalrymple (1980) have reported A. eqiies- tris as feeding on the following: palm and Ficus fruits, leaves, spiders, leafhoppers, cicadas, cockroaches, beetles, treefrogs, smaller anoles, young birds, and baby rats and mice. Brach (1976) stated that he was skeptical that A. equestris fed on mangos, as alleged by many Cubans. However, we have observed A. equestris to feed on ripe mangos. In addition to the reported food items we have also seen these anoles feeding on azalea flowers, tree sap. caterpillars, and large ants. Ano/is equestris is most abundantly visible during the hottest days of the year. Another factor which may contribute to the success of A. eques- tris in south Florida is its extended longevity as compared to most other anoline species. Puckette and Smith (1963) reported an A. equestris to have lived in captivity for six years and speculated it may have been at least eight years old at death. Lynch and Smith (1964) in examining the possibility of oligophydonty in a senile A. equestris stated that ''rarely do these lizards live longer than two years in captivity and their age in nature probably rarely exceeds 5 ; We are aware, however, of two A. equestris whose captive longevity far exceeds that reported by Puckette and Smith (1963). John Boursot (pers. comm.) kindly informed us that both specimens were obtained (from the junior author) as adults on 5 November
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