Diet of Enyalius bilineatus (Leiosauridae: Squamata) at a site in southeastern Brazil: effects of phylogeny and prey availability

Abstract

We studied the diet of Enyalius bilineatus (Leiosauridae: Squamata) at the Inhotim Institute, southeastern Brazil, through induced regurgitation. We obtained 27 individuals using pitfall traps with drift-fence, active search, opportunistic encounters and capture by persons not directly involved in the study. We quantified prey availability at the site using pitfall traps and used electivity indices to identify preferred prey items based on ingested and available prey. Preferred prey included Lepidoptera larvae considering number of prey ingested and Orthoptera considering volume ingested. We obtained the available data on diet of Enyalius species from the literature and compared a phylogenetic distance matrix with a diet dissimilarity matrix, showing that phylogenetically closer species tended to have less dissimilar diets. We used independent contrasts to show that environmental impact did not reduce Enyalius population trophic niches, excluding the effects of phylogeny on niche breadth. Species of Enyalius may adapt to some disturbance in their habitats.