DIEL VARIATION IN AREA OF MOVEMENT OF THE LIZARD PODARCIS-SICULA

Scan samples of locations and observations on distances moved by Podar cis sicula during July and August near Pisa in central Italy showed th at there was hitherto unrecorded diel variation in the area within whi ch movement took place and in the distances moved per unit time. This variation was studied intensively in a focal adult female lizard; the proportion of the home range utilised over a 10 day period showed maxi ma from 09:00-10:00 hr (71%: 80 m(2)) and 16:00-17:00 hr (39%: 44 m(2) ). The 14:00-15:00 hr areas of movement in six further lizards were af fected by the amount of available shade, averaging 1/50 of the 09:00-1 0:00 hr movement area when shade was < 5% of total habitat (n = 5) and 1/7 when shade was > 15% (n = 2). Experimentally increasing the area of shade available to two lizards from 5 to 20% resulted in an increas e in the area of movement.