Preliminary observations on foraging mode in a community of house geckos on Tahiti and a comment on competition

Y. L. Werner*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Foraging mode (statistics of motion) of geckos was observed on Tahiti in a house harbouring Gehyra mutilata, G. oceanica, Hemidactylus frenatus and Lepidodactylus lugubris. These species tend to share similar activity cycles but were not fully syntopic. All four species are known as opportunistic insectivores with largely overlapping lists of prey types. From small samples observed, G. mutilata (n=4) and L lugubris (N=5) are, statistically, sit-and-wait (SW) foragers; from one or two individuals, G. oceanica and H. frenatus, too, may be SW foragers. However, L. lugubris sometimes hunts more actively. Tentatively, if food is a limiting factor, the main options for partial resource partitioning among these sympatric species are size differentiation and reduction of syntopy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)89-96
Number of pages8
JournalTropical Ecology
Volume39
Issue number1
StatePublished - 1998

Keywords

  • Foraging mode
  • Geckos
  • Gehyra mutilata
  • Gehyra oceanica
  • Hemidactylus frenatus
  • Lepidodactylus lugubris
  • Pacific islands
  • Resource partitioning
  • Sympatry
  • Syntopy

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