FEEDING OBSERVATIONS OF THE ECUADORIAN MILKSNAKE, Lampropeltis micropholis (SQUAMATA: COLUBRIDAE)

Angie Katerine Rodríguez Salazar; Felipe Barrera-Ocampo

doi:10.22201/fc.25942158e.2025.4.1269

Authors

Angie Katerine Rodríguez Salazar Grupo Herpetológico de Antioquia https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9457-5567
Felipe Barrera-Ocampo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22201/fc.25942158e.2025.4.1269

Keywords:

Citizen science, natural history, predation attempts, snake-prey interactions

Abstract

We report the first documented records of predation attempts by Lampropeltis micropholis on a house bat of the family Vespertilionidae and a rainbow whiptail lizard of the Cnemidophorus lemniscatus group in Colombia. In the first event, a juvenile of L. micropholis attempted to ingest a vespertilionid bat in Frontino, Antioquia, but it was unsuccessful, most likely due to a limitation imposed by the prey’s size relative to the snake’s gape. In the second event, another juvenile successfully consumed a lizard in Villanueva, Santander, showing an efficient swallowing process likely favored by the prey’s elongated and slender body. These records expand current knowledge of the juvenile diet of L. micropholis and highlight the importance of citizen science in documenting ecological interactions and poorly known feeding habits in snakes.

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