I'm doing a study on diet base on faecal pellets analysis and I have some pictures of arthropods prey fragments I coudn't identified. I upload one (but I have more) in case someone from the community can help me.
Looks very much like a form of crustacean, Dendrobranciata? Which species is it whose diet you investigate?
Thank you! I don't think it's a crustacean. The diet it's from a lacertid lizard that live near water but i don't think it feed from acuatic animals. Crustacean was also my first impression but for the reasons I said, I discard it.
Hi, my first impression was that this picture corresponds to a femur of an aquatic insect; the reason was the “presence” of a swimming hairs comb. Nevertheless, after seeing the picture carefully, I am not sure if the comb is part of this leg because it seems too long and not attached to the leg. Another option could be a spider leg in particular a femur and patella parts. If the comb is part of the leg do not dismiss the option of an aquatic insect because most of them are able to leave the water such as coleoptera and heteroptera; others, like several families of plecoptera when the nymph is mature leave the water climbing trees, stones and walls even reaching several meters over the water surface. Another picture could help.
That is the only picture of the item that I have right know but I will keep all the information in mind and I will give another look to the identification guides I'm using. I just wanted to ask before clasifiying the prey as "non identiy" Thank you. Any other aportation will be apreaciated
Size, phenology and location would be useful information, but from the general shape and hairs, I would say it is a spider leg.
The 'hairs' in the top left part of the femur look like moth scales. It is hard to tell if they are attached and how thoroughly this piece was washed. Usually, if something eats a moth, there are loads of scales throughout the faecal sample. I won't be surprised if it turns out out to be a moth femur, but hard to say with certainty without more pictures and info.
Hi Ana
Like the other pics that you sent, I am again think this is a part of an arachnid. In some arachnids species there are an organ of stridulation, which is formed by a modification of setae of the legs, mainly in the palpal trochanter. I have observed this structure in the mygalomorph in our Peninsula, Macrothele calpeiana. But I think this organ is present in other families of arachnids. Check out this link, there some drawining of one Macrothele species and the description of this organ.
http://www.european-arachnology.org/proceedings/23rd/2Haupt_19_23.pdf
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