IADIZA   20886
INSTITUTO ARGENTINO DE INVESTIGACIONES DE LAS ZONAS ARIDAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Summer diet of the pichi Zaedyus pichiy (Xenarthra: Dasypodidae) in Mendoza Province, Argentina
Autor/es:
SUPERINA MARIELA; FERNÁNDEZ CAMPÓN FLORENCIA; STEVANI ERICA L.; CARRARA RODOLFO
Revista:
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
Editorial:
Elsevier
Referencias:
Año: 2009 vol. 73 p. 683 - 686
ISSN:
0140-1963
Resumen:
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The diet of the pichi armadillo (Zaedyus
pichiy) was determined based on analysis of stomach contents of 26 dead
individuals confiscated from poachers near Cerro Nevado, Mendoza Province, Argentina.
Sand accounted for 66_ 24% of stomach contents dry weight. Beetles were the
predominant food item in 14 and ants in 5 stomachs, while 5 animals had mainly
ingested plant material. The remainder had mostly fed on fly larvae and
arachnids. Coleoptera (mainly adults and Scarabeidae larvae) and plant material
(seeds, leaves, and roots) were found in all stomachs examined. All pichis had
fed on ants of different species and stages, suggesting that pichis eat any ant
species they can find and actively prey on nests. Scorpions and spiders were
observed in over 60% of stomachs but represented a low aggregate percent weight.
Vertebrates were rarely found. Based on these results, the pichi of Mendoza Province can be described as an
opportunistic omnivore that mainly feeds on insects and seems to be the least
carnivorous of all carnivoreomnivore armadillos.