Caucasian Agama (Laudakia caucasia). Steppe agama (Agama sanguinolenta) What does the Caucasian agama eat?

The Caucasian agama is a lizard belonging to the genus of Asian mountain agamas, which has a rather large size.

The length of her body reaches 15 centimeters, excluding the tail, and the tail is 2 times longer than the body.

The Caucasian agama is larger than the steppe agama, the shape of its body is flattened. The body is covered with heterogeneous scales: it is large and small in size. The shape of the scales is ribbed and subulate. The skin on the sides of the head and neck is covered with large conical scales. The tympanic membrane is located on the surface of the head, and in the steppe lizard it is in a depression. The scales on the tail are arranged in rings, every two rings form a distinct segment.

The upper body is gray and brown. In general, the color depends on the habitat: if the Caucasian agama lives on rocky areas, then its color is ash-gray, if on red sandstones, the color is reddish-brown, and if on basalts, then the color is brown, almost black. The belly is covered with smooth scales of cream or light gray color. The head is decorated with a dark marble pattern. In young animals, the color is clearly expressed from the transverse stripes of light and dark colors.

Where does the Caucasian agama live?

Representatives of the species live in the eastern part of the Caucasus, in Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, and in the south of Central Asia. Mountains are a characteristic habitat for Caucasian lizards. They live in gorges, on rocks and on boulders. In addition, they climb into various human buildings and structures.

Although outwardly these lizards look clumsy, they deftly move among the stones. They have developed claws, which help the agama to easily hold onto vertical walls, steep slopes and smooth stones. These lizards jump well from one stone to another at a distance of up to 40 centimeters. Sometimes Caucasian agaves crawl onto shrubs and trees. From danger, they take refuge in the cracks between the stones and cracks in the rocks.

The population of these lizards is quite numerous, so they regularly catch the eye of people. The Caucasian agama, as well as the steppe agama, chooses various hills as observation points - stones and steep slopes, from which it surveys the surrounding area.

Agama lifestyle

If the Caucasian agama is in danger, she immediately rushes to the shelter, while she disguises herself among the stones located at its entrance. If the enemy still pursues the lizard, it climbs into cover. Inside, it swells, the scales are hooked from the wall of the shelter, so it is extremely difficult to pull it out.

Males make sure that outsiders do not invade their territory. To do this, they are located in the observation post and periodically squat on their front legs. If another male enters the territory, then its owner rushes at the stranger. Most often, as a result of such attacks, an unexpected guest takes to flight. From 1 to 4 females constantly live on the possessions of males. And the male is in regular contact with them, even outside the breeding season.

During courtship, Caucasian agaves exhibit individual characteristics that are not characteristic of other lizards. For example, the male puts his head on the female's head or neck. Since females live in territories guarded by males, lizards that do not have their own allotments do not participate in breeding, mainly young animals.

Adult Caucasian dragons, like their counterparts, prefer to live in one place, but sometimes they have to migrate. It is not difficult for a desert lizard to find a place for wintering, but for Caucasian agaves the situation is more complicated, because in frosts rocky slopes freeze deeply, and it is rather difficult to find a deep shelter in which to spend the winter. In this regard, the Caucasian agamas have to migrate, while they move at a distance of about 500 meters.

Since the number of places suitable for wintering is limited, about a dozen adults and young animals can gather in one shelter. In the spring, the agama returns to its usual habitat again.

Females also face this problem when they are looking for a place to lay eggs. It is difficult to find a secluded place for future offspring among the rocks, so the females have to leave the inhabited areas and go where their offspring will be comfortable (the eggs must develop in conditions of high humidity). In search of a suitable place for laying, the female can overcome up to 3 kilometers. Hatched cubs spend the winter in the place of laying, after which they settle.

During hibernation, the Caucasian agama falls into a stupor, and its body temperature ranges from 0.8 to +9.8 degrees Celsius. If the southern winter is warm, then the body temperature of these lizards rises, and therefore they can be seen on the surface as early as January. That is, the winter sleep of Caucasian agamas is not too strong.

What does the Caucasian agama eat?

The diet of Caucasian agamas, as well as that of the steppe, is quite diverse. It mainly consists of invertebrates: beetles, butterflies, hymenoptera, centipedes and spiders, which lizards look out for from their observation points. Sometimes Caucasian agamas eat other lizards and even young of their own species. In addition, they eat small snakes. An important role in the diet is plant foods - seeds, fruits and leaves.

Reproduction of Caucasian Agamas

Each female lays a clutch of 4-14 eggs. At the same time, the eggs are large: their length reaches 2.5 centimeters. For eggs, the female digs a hole under the stones or makes a clutch in the rock. Eggs develop over 1.5-2 months. Then young agamas hatch, the body length of which, excluding the tail, is about 4 centimeters. They grow quite quickly, and in the 3rd year of life they become sexually mature.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

The size of the males of the Caucasian agama is up to 15 cm, the females are up to 14 cm. Weight is up to 160 g.

The body, head and base of the tail are strongly flattened, the rest of the tail is more or less round in cross section. The scutes covering the anterior part of the upper side of the head, with the exception of the smaller supraorbital ones, are slightly convex. The parietal eye is not expressed. All scutes of the occipital region are uniform, small. The nasal shield is noticeably swollen, the nostril occupies most of it, is located on the lateral surface of the muzzle and is not visible from above. Upper labials 11-16. The tympanic membrane is located superficially.

The scales covering the body are heterogeneous. A path of five- or hexagonal, almost smooth or slightly ribbed scales runs along the ridge, differing from dorsal-lateral scales in shape and larger. Behind the tympanic membrane and on the sides of the neck are folds of skin, covered at the free ends with enlarged conical scales. The sides of the body are covered with small conical scales, among which, closer to the ventral surface, strongly ribbed or spiny scales stand out in larger sizes. Throat and thoracic scales are smooth. The throat fold is well expressed. Tail scales with blunt ribs, turning into dense short spines; located in regular transverse rings, every 2 rings, at least in the anterior third of the tail, form a well-defined segment. The fourth toe of the hind foot is longer than the third. Adult males have 3-5 rows of calloused scales in front of the cloacal fissure and a large group of such scales in the middle of the abdomen.

The general background of the upper body of the Caucasian agama is olive-gray, dirty-brown, brown or ash-gray, which largely depends on the background of the surrounding area. On light calcareous rocks, lizards are ash-gray, on basalt lavas they are brown, almost black, and on red sandstones they are reddish-brown. On the sides of the back there is a grid pattern of dark streaks and lines to varying degrees, forming irregularly shaped circles with lighter centers in places, the space between which is occupied by dark and cream spots. The belly is dirty gray or pinkish cream, which is especially characteristic of adult females. The throat is usually more or less marbled. During the breeding season, the throat, chest, front legs and part of the belly acquire a blackish-blue, almost black color. Tail with obscure transverse stripes. Young dragons are characterized by the presence of small light brown or fawn spots scattered along the upper side of the body and large spots of the same color behind the head, on the chest, throat, lower surface of the hind legs and tail. Dark and light transverse stripes are clearly distinguished on the back of underyearlings. Body color is subject to change. Light agamas after capture and even short-term captivity usually quickly darken and acquire a dark brown, almost black color.

Distributed in the eastern half of the Caucasus, Northeast Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Northwest Pakistan and the south of Central Asia. In the USSR - in Eastern and Southern Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, mountainous Dagestan and Southern Turkmenistan.

Nominative subspecies lives within the USSR A. s. caucasica(Eichw., 1831). Second subspecies - A. s. microlepis(Blanf., 1874), previously considered an independent species, is distributed in the eastern half of Iran. It is distinguished by a large number of scales around the middle of the body (177-235 in males and 190-239 in females).

The Caucasian agama lives in the mountains, where it mainly adheres to rocks, very rocky slopes with sparse dry-loving vegetation and single stone blocks. In some places it lives on clay-loess cliffs and on soft rocks in dry riverbeds. It is also found among the ruins, on stone fences and road slopes. In the mountains it is known up to an altitude of 3370 m above sea level. As shelters, it uses various kinds of cracks, gullies and depressions in rocks, cracks and spaces between stones, less often burrows. One shelter is often used by several individuals. Winter shelters are usually deep ravines in the rocks or horizontal spaces extending into the depths under the layers of sedimentary rocks. Winters often in clusters, sometimes up to several hundred individuals. On the shores of Lake Sevan (in Armenia), at the end of May, the maximum population density was 86 individuals per 1 km. In Turkmenistan, 1.7-13.1 individuals were counted on a route 10 km long.

After wintering, it appears in mid-March - late April. In autumn it is active until October - early December, in warm winters it is also active in January. It feeds on insects and other arthropods, also eating flowering heads and flower buds, soft shoots and leaves, hawthorn fruits, buckthorn and blackberries. There have been cases of attacks on small lizards - naked-eyed, geckos, foot-and-mouth disease, rock lizards. In Azerbaijan, beetles (44.2%), mainly weevils and ground beetles, orthoptera (20.2%), butterfly caterpillars (13.7%), bees (8%), as well as leaves and plant remains were found in the stomachs of agamas. In Georgia, their food is ants (42.1%), beetles (20.3%), butterflies (14%), locusts (12.5%), molluscs, wood lice and spiders (3.2% each) - In addition , plant residues were found in many stomachs. In June, in Dagestan, agamas fed on beetles (91.9%), orthoptera (51.6%), hymenoptera (29%), butterflies (20.9%), spiders (17.7%). Most of the stomachs also contained plant foods. In Southwestern Turkmenistan, in spring and early summer, agamas eat beetles (58.3%), ants (44.2%), butterflies (44.2%), orthoptera (15.9%) and green parts of plants (58. 3%). In southern Turkmenistan, agamas leaving winter shelters during thaws in winter fed mainly on beetles (82%), of which almost half were ladybugs.

Mating in agamas begins shortly after waking up and continues until the beginning - mid-June. The male mates with several females living in his area, which form a kind of "harem". Females sometimes migrate long distances to oviposition sites. In Transcaucasia, individuals with eggs in the oviducts are found from mid-June to mid-July; in Turkmenistan, oviposition takes place in May-June. During the season, 2 clutches are possible.

Young females 98-110 mm long lay 4-6, and with a length of 130 mm or more - 12-14 eggs 15-17X22-26 mm in size. Juveniles 36-38 mm long (without tail) appear in July-September. In Transcaucasia, sexual maturity in the Caucasian agama occurs in the third year of life in females with a body length of 96-98 mm; in Turkmenistan, for the first time breeding individuals were noted with a body length of 110-120 mm.

The Caucasian Agama is a fairly large animal. The length of the body without a tail reaches 15 cm, and the tail is twice as long as the body.

The Caucasian agama is more massive than the steppe agama, its body is strongly flattened. The scales covering the body are heterogeneous: among the small scales there are larger, ribbed and subulate ones. Skin folds on the neck and sides of the head are covered with enlarged conical scales. The tympanic membrane is located on the surface of the head (and not in a recess, as in the steppe agama). The scales covering the tail are arranged in regular rings, with every two rings forming a well-defined segment.

From above, the agama is painted in brown or gray tones, depending on the main background of the habitat: on light limestone rocks it is ash-gray, on basalts it is brown and even almost black, on red sandstones it is reddish-brown.

The ventral side is covered with smooth scales and is painted in light gray or cream color. There is a dark marble pattern on the throat. In young dragons, a pattern of alternating dark and light transverse stripes is clearly expressed.

Where does the Caucasian agama live?

The Caucasian agama is distributed in the eastern part of the Caucasus, in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and in the south of Central Asia. In Russia, it is found in mountainous Dagestan.

This lizard is a characteristic inhabitant of the mountains. It lives on rocks, in gorges, on scree and even on separate huge boulders. A variety of human buildings and ruins are also inhabited by these lizards.

Despite the outward clumsiness, the Caucasian agama deftly moves among the stones. Developed claws on powerful paws allow it to stay on steep slopes, vertical walls, smooth boulders. This large lizard can even jump from stone to stone for a distance of up to 40 centimeters. Occasionally, it crawls into trees or shrubs. Cracks, crevices and spaces between stones serve as shelters for the Caucasian agama.

In places of its distribution, the Caucasian agama is numerous and constantly catches the eye. Like the steppe agama, which chooses bushes as observation points, the Caucasian agama is located on towering stones or on steep slopes and surveys what is happening around from there.

Lifestyle

When danger approaches, it rushes with lightning speed to the shelter and, disguised, nestles against the stones located at its entrance. If in this way it is not possible to hide from the enemy, the agama goes into hiding. There it inflates the body, its styloid scales cling to all the surrounding irregularities, and therefore it is very difficult to pull the lizard out of there.

Males of the Caucasian agama, at the observation post, protect their territory from the invasion of other males. At the same time, they periodically squat on their forelimbs (just like the males of the steppe agama). If an intruder violates the boundaries, the owner of the site rushes at him: this attack is enough to put the "invader" to flight. A female (or two, and sometimes even four) constantly lives on the territory of the male. The male is in contact with them all the time, even when the breeding season ends. In the courtship behavior of Caucasian dragons, elements are noted that are unknown in other lizards, for example, the male puts his head on the neck or head of the female. Since all females live within the strictly protected territories of some male, nomadic males that do not have such territories do not participate in breeding (usually these are juveniles).

Like most lizards, adult agamas constantly live in one place, but often they also have to make migrations. The fact is that for most desert lizards, finding a wintering place on their individual site is not a problem. But in the biotopes of the Caucasian agama, the situation is different - rocky slopes freeze deeply in winter and it is not easy to find a sufficiently deep and reliable shelter here. Therefore, agamas can migrate from their individual sites to a distance of up to 500 meters. Since there are few places suitable for wintering, each of them may contain several (and sometimes several dozen) agamas - both adults and young ones. In the spring, agamas make reverse migrations - to their permanent habitats.

The same problem confronts the females of the Caucasian agama when looking for a place to lay eggs. It is not easy to find it among the rocks, and therefore the females leave their inhabited individual sites and migrate to where there are conditions suitable for the development of eggs (high humidity, appropriate shelters). Sometimes they have to cover distances of more than three kilometers. The cubs hatched in the places of laying eggs overwinter here, and then settle.

The body temperature of lizards that are in a stupor in winter shelters ranges from -0.8 to +9.8 ° С. During the changeable, warm southern winters, there are periods of steady rise in temperature, and then, even in January, Caucasian agamas can appear on the surface - their winter sleep is not very deep.

What does the Caucasian agama eat?

Like the steppe agama, the Caucasian diet is very diverse. These are mainly invertebrates, which she looks out for from her observation posts: beetles, hymenoptera, butterflies, spiders, centipedes. On occasion, the agama will also eat a small lizard (even a juvenile of its own species) or a snake. An important role in its nutrition is played by plant foods - leaves, fruits, seeds.

Reproduction of Caucasian Agamas

The female lays from 4 to 14 large (up to 2.5 centimeters long) eggs in a hole dug by her under a stone or in a rock crack. The development of eggs lasts one and a half to two months, after which small agamas are born with a body length (without a tail) of about four centimeters. They grow rapidly and reach sexual maturity in the third year of life.

steppe agama- medium-sized lizard (length up to 10-15 cm) with pronounced sexual dimorphism in color. It lives in deserts and semi-deserts of the Eastern Fore-Caucasus and Central Asia. Outside the Soviet Union, it is widely distributed in the northern regions of Iran and Afghanistan, in the northwestern part of China.

The color of the steppe agama is quite variable, but usually it is gray or grayish-yellow (sand-colored), it has large dark spots on its back, and vague dark transverse stripes on the tail and upper side of the paws. The color of the body depends on the ambient temperature, the mood of the animal. With fright or strong excitement, sexual dimorphism in color becomes better noticeable: in males, the throat, belly, lower part of the sides and limbs become dark blue, while this does not happen in females.

It lives in open areas, but in extreme heat it uses rodent burrows, cracks in the soil, voids under stones and plant roots as shelters. To protect the body from overheating on hot soil in the heat, it climbs onto the branches of saxaul and other shrubs. Territorial males have their own territories and protect them from other individuals. This must be taken into account when keeping agamas in order to avoid fights between males.

In nature, the agama feeds on beetles, ants, bugs and spiders, in addition, it eats leaves, stems and flowers of plants, especially in spring.

In captivity, it is kept in terrariums of the "Desert" type at a temperature of 27-29 ° C, with heating. It eats flour worms, cockroaches, crickets well, and from green fodder - dandelion leaves and flowers.

Sometimes lays eggs in a common terrarium.

Website "Siberian Zoological Museum" (www.bionet.nsc.ru), photo by Yu.K.Zinchenko

In the Kopet-Dag and in the small ridges of the same mountain system of the Kyuren-Dag of the Big and Small Balkhans, as well as in the rocks of the south of Karabil, the most numerous and noticeable lizard of these places lives - caucasian agama.

The size of her body reaches 160 mm, the tail is slightly longer, the weight is up to 150 g. The head and body are strongly flattened. The scales on the back are varied. A path of five or hexagonal scales, smooth or slightly ribbed, runs along the center of the back. These agamas are olive-brown or olive-gray in color with small black or yellowish spots, and the underside of the body is darkish gray with a marble pattern on the throat, the belly of females is pinkish-yellow, and blackish-bluish in males during the mating season.

This agama is widespread in the mountains of the Caucasus, Northeast Turkey, Balochistan, Afghanistan and South Turkmenistan.

The Caucasian agama is a real mountain lizard, choosing rocks, rocky slopes with sparse vegetation and an abundance of rock fragments for its habitat. Sometimes it settles in dry sai. Cracks and crevices between stones serve as a refuge. Agamas run and jump very well. Crossing the open space, they lift their tail, and, climbing the rocks, tightly press it to the stone, using prickly tail spikes as a support.

Caucasian agamas leave for wintering in November, after wintering they appear at the end of February, in March. In early spring and autumn, agamas are active in the middle of the day, and in summer - in the morning and evening. On summer days, they come out of their hiding places at sunrise. Having climbed onto a stone or a ledge of a rock, they look out for prey for hours. Noticing her, the agama quickly goes to the prey and unmistakably grabs it. In addition to animal food, these lizards willingly eat leaves and seeds of labiate and cruciferous plants.

In late May - early June, females lay their eggs. Their average dimensions are 22X13 mm. Newborns appear in August-September. At the age of two years they become sexually mature.

Of the enemies of the Caucasian agama, multi-colored and red-striped snakes, the Central Asian cobra, gyurza, and black kite are known. A case of cannibalism has been noted. Molting lizards occurs from March to June.

The Caucasian agama brings certain benefits in mountain pastures, destroying pests of vegetation: beetles (weevils, leaf beetles, dark beetles), ants, bees, wasps, bumblebees, locusts, bugs, termites, butterfly caterpillars. So, in the mountains of Turkmenistan, among the invertebrates eaten by this lizard, 1199 specimens were harmful, 792 specimens were neutral, and only 211 were useful.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.