Feeding habits of the common chameleon, Chamaeleo chamaeleon (Linnaeus, 1758) in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula

We present the feeding habits of the common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon ) at Taramay, a small coastal valley in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula. Fecal pellets collected from sexed and measured specimens trapped in the f ield were used for diet analysis. Thirty-four fecal samples provided a tota l of 777 identified prey items. All prey were arthropods and the numericall y dominant groups were Diptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera, and Heteroptera. W e failed to find sexual differences in diet preference, but there was a sea sonal shift in the prey consumed. Orthoptera, the largest prey type, was co nsumed less in spring than summer or autumn. Examination of grasshopper phe nology in coastal habitats of the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, and of th e change in chameleon habitat utilization and mobility during the mating pe riod, verified that the common chameleon appears to consume grasshoppers in approximate proportion to their abundance. Prey consumed were smaller than in previous studies. We believe the earlier findings may have been biased due to the diet consisting of captive specimens: Most of the prey consumed in the present study were flying insects, perhaps reflecting the arboreal h abits of this climbing species; and most prey were also mobile, as has been predicted for sit-and-wait foragers such as the common chameleon.