On an ant - lizard interaction.

The myrmicine ant Crematogaster brevispinosa attacks juveniles and possibly adults of the iguanid lizard, Anolis lineatopus; bitten juveniles usually run away. A juvenile A. lineatopus caged together with 38 C. brevispinosa specimens died within hours due to attacks by these ants. On a study site in Kingston, Jamaica, fewer A. lineatopus were found to inhabit a patch densely occupied by C. brevispinosa than a structurally similar patch where this ant was not present. Similarly, fewer A. lineatopus eggs and anole egg-shells were found in the patch with C. brevispinosa than in that where this species was absent. These findings bear directly on the innate ant avoidance response of juvenile A. lineatopus demonstrated in the laboratory.