Ecologia trófica de Amphisbaena vermicularis Wagler, 1824, (Squamata, Amphisbaenidae) Nordeste, Brasil

Abstract

Amphisbaena vermicularis is a legless reptile with reduced vision, but with good chemical and sound perception. It is a fossorial animal, the difficulty in studying its behavior, distribution, and ecology. The objective of this work is to analyze the diet of Amphisbaena vermicularis, as well as the parameters related to the trophic ecology of the research. A total of 57 animals (16 males, 14 schoolchildren, 24 juveniles, and 3 unidentified) from the herpetological collection of the Universidade Federal do Ceará were transported. For each individual, eight morphometric measurements were taken: cloacal rostrum length, mandibular width, body width, body height, head width, head width, head length, and tail length, these measurements were used to quantify the degree of sexual dimorphism of the species. Stomach contents were developed and measured in length and width. Of the 57 holding 32 aggregates with empty stomachs, while 25 had identifiable prey in the digestive tract, the most found item was Formicidae, with a frequency of 44.12%, followed by Blattaria with 23.53%, Coleoptera larvae with 17 .65%, Isoptera with 8.82%, and Coleoptera and Araneae tied with 2.94%, totaling 137 food items. Statistical tests indicated an absence of variation between the diet of males, persists, and juveniles. The results of the present work reveal that A. vermicularis is a generalist predator feeding on arthropods randomly, according to their body capacity.