Anolis leachii
System : Terrestrial
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Polychrotidae
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Common name
Warwick lizard (English), Antiguan anole (English), panther anole (English), Barbuda Bank tree anole (English)
Synonym
Anolis leachii , Boulenger, 1885
Anolis bimaculatus leachi , Lazell, 1972
Anolis leachi , Burnell & Hedges, 1990
Anolis leachi , Powell & Henderson, 2001
Anolis bimaculatus leachi , Lazell, 1972
Anolis leachi , Burnell & Hedges, 1990
Anolis leachi , Powell & Henderson, 2001
Similar species
Summary
The Barbuda Bank tree anole, Anolis leachii was accidently introduced to Bermuda along with the Barbados anole (A. extremus) probably in the early 1940's. In Bermuda, A. leachii successfully competes with the longer established and also introduced Graham's anole (Norops grahami), altering its microhabitat distribution. Introduced anole lizards including A. leachii (but mainly N. grahami) on Bermuda were shown to predate heavily on beetle species introduced for the biological control of introduced scale insects.
Species Description
Anolis leachii is a large anole with a mean snout to vent length of 102 mm for males (Losos, 1996).
Notes
Anolis leachii is one of three introduced anole species present on Bermuda, along with Graham's anole (see Norops grahami) and the Barbados anole (see A. extremus) (Wingate, 1965). The effects of these lizards, particularly N. grahami led to the introduction of the great kiskadee (see Pitangus sulphuratus) as a biocontrol agent in 1957. However, this biocontrol attempt was a failure, with P. sulphuratus playing a significant role in the population declines of native insect, bird and reptile species on Bermuda (Cheesman & Clubbe, 2007; Davenport et al., 2008).
Nutrition
The diet of Anolis leachii is similar and widely overlaping with that of Norops grahami (Wingate, 1965). Simmonds (1958) found the following insects in order of abundance from a stomach content analysis of 57 individuals: Hymenoptera, mainly Iridomyrmex; Diptera, various species, particularly Hippelates; Coleoptera, various species particularly Lindorus (Coccinalledae); Lepidoptera, various species, adults and larvae; Orthoptera, Periplaneta (Blattidae). Insects of the orders Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera were nearly all of species larger than taken by N. grahami and the proportion of cockroaches eaten was much larger (Simmonds, 1958).
Pathway
Most likely capable of dispersal as a stowaway on cargo ships (Wingate, 1965).
Principal source:
Compiler: IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) with support from the Overseas Territories Environmental Programme (OTEP) project XOT603, a joint project with the Cayman Islands Government - Department of Environment
Review:
Publication date: 2010-06-29
Recommended citation: Global Invasive Species Database (2024) Species profile: Anolis leachii. Downloaded from http://iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=1677 on 27-11-2024.
General Impacts
Anolis leachii affects the microhabitat distribution of the also introduced Norops grahami on Bermuda through competition, forcing N. grahamii to use lower (Schoener, 1975) or peripheral (Losos, 1996) perches. Both species, but especially N. grahami were shown to predate heavily on beneficial insect species such as the Coccinellidids Cryptolaemus montrouzieri and Chilocorus cacti introduced to control scale insects such as the long-tailed mealybug Pseudococcus adonidum (Simmonds, 1958).
