. Asiatic herpetological research. Reptiles -- Asia Periodicals; Amphibians -- Asia Periodicals. FIG. 3. Caucasiaan Salamanders of different ages. A- larvae of three size groups (1-3); B- newly metamorphosed specimen; C- adult specimen. 17 mm: 01 h - 53%; 12-13 h - 40%). Mean caloric content of food of different groups has a weak monthly variation ( ). Average number of preys per digestive tract increases with larval size from ± (group 1) to + (group 3). Food spectrum of larvae widens in ontogenesis. Along with widening, there is a marked displacement of prey siz
. Asiatic herpetological research. Reptiles -- Asia Periodicals; Amphibians -- Asia Periodicals. FIG. 3. Caucasiaan Salamanders of different ages. A- larvae of three size groups (1-3); B- newly metamorphosed specimen; C- adult specimen. 17 mm: 01 h - 53%; 12-13 h - 40%). Mean caloric content of food of different groups has a weak monthly variation ( ). Average number of preys per digestive tract increases with larval size from ± (group 1) to + (group 3). Food spectrum of larvae widens in ontogenesis. Along with widening, there is a marked displacement of prey size spectrum to larger and larger objects (Table 1, A, B). Maximum values of reached The main food of salamander larvae are gammarids and larval insects (Table 2). The smallest invertebrates, Ostracoda and Hydracarina, occur in the diet of smallest salamanders. Generally, age changes of diet are weak (see Table 2). Food similarity (h') by prey numbers are: for groups 1 and 2 - ; 1 and 3 - ; 2 and For weight proportions they are , , and , respectively. Likewise in summer (group 2 - June and August: Ix' = by prey number and by weight) and day (group 1: 12-13h and 01 h: K'= and ) larval diets changed very slowly. Larval food differences are slightly more appearent in medium and lower stream currents (1^= and ). Metamorphosed salamander food composition changes sharply due to habitat change (see Table 2). Terrestrial insects become dominant. Food becomes more and more diverse with age. Crustaceans, arachnids and insects are the main adult salamander's prey (see Table 2). At the same time interpopulational differences in their feeding are insufficient: for Akhaldaba (Bozhansky and Semenov, 1982) and Baniskhevi (Ekvtimishvili, 1948) samples h.'= by numeric percents. Sexual differences in diets are absent (Bozhansky and Semenov, 1982). Apart from food items, plant remains, parasitic nematods (in newly metamorph
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