In the contents of 103 armadillo stomachs collected in west-central Louisiana, in 1947 and 1948 I found the broken tail of one Eumeces fasciatus. The lizard itself evidently had escaped (Fitch, 1949a:88). Many clutches of lizard eggs were found in the contents of the armadillo stomachs and some of these probably were eggs of Eumeces, which are similar to those of other small lizards in the same region (Anolis carolinensis, Sceloporus undulatus) in size, shape, and color.
Among 217 identified prey items from stomachs and scats of Sonoran skinks (Eumeces obsoletus) from northeastern Kansas were remains of three hatchling five-lined skinks. Taylor (1953b:212) recorded that a Eumeces laticeps shipped from Arkansas to Kansas ate an E. fasciatus that was with it in the container. Several authors have recorded predation on Eumeces fasciatus by snakes of various kinds in captivity. Conant (1951:211) recorded that one was eaten by a blacksnake (Coluber constrictor) placed in the collecting sack with it. Anderson (1942:211 and 216) recorded that a king snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki) and a young copperhead (Ancistrodon contortrix) each fed upon them. Hurter (1911:184) recorded that a milk snake, Lampropeltis triangulum syspila, placed in a bucket with a Eumeces fasciatus was found swallowing it a short time later and its tail had been broken off.
Ruthven (1911:268) mentioned that stomachs of milk snakes, L. t. triangulum, collected in Michigan contained remains of five-lined skinks. Ditmars (1907:352) wrote that stomachs of several L. t. elapsoides contained Eumeces, and Wright and Bishop (1915:167) wrote of the same kind of king snake in the Okefinokee Swamp region: “It feeds on ground lizards, skinks, swifts, and other snakes and lizards.”
Mr. Richard B. Loomis is of the opinion that the five-lined skink is one of the chief food sources for the milk snake (L. t. syspila). Having kept many of these snakes in captivity and experimentally offered them different types of prey, he found that individuals inclined to feed would avidly seize and eat skinks and young mice, but other proffered prey, small adult rodents, snakes, or lizards other than Eumeces were either rejected or were taken with some hesitation. These milk snakes have habitat preferences similar to the skink, which would seem to be one of the most available food sources. Loomis recorded in his field notes that a juvenal blotched king snake (L. calligaster) 310 mm. in total length, taken on April 8, 1950, seven miles southwest of Tulsa, Oklahoma, had eaten a large adult E. fasciatus. Another juvenal blotched king snake that he found under a flat rock near Sunflower, Johnson County, Kansas, regurgitated an adult five-lined skink. Loomis also recorded a juvenal rat snake (Elaphe guttata emoryi) and a juvenal pilot black snake (E. obsoleta) each feeding on individuals of Eumeces fasciatus in captivity. Uhler, Cottam and Clarke (1939:622) in a study of the contents of the alimentary tracts of 893 snakes of 18 species, from the George Washington National Forest, Virginia, found among the prey items only one skink (species undetermined but most probably E. fasciatus). It had been eaten by one of the two corn snakes (Elaphe guttata) that were examined in the study.
On June 11, 1950, in Skink Woods, a young copperhead 335 mm. in snout-vent length and weighing 27.6 grams, had a gravid female skink in its stomach. Another young copperhead (335 mm., 36.1 grams) trapped near Rat Woods on August 28, 1953, had in its stomach a bob-tailed adult five-lined skink. Many copperheads collected on the Reservation were kept in captivity for short periods, and from them a total of 44 scats were obtained, each scat containing the remains of one or more prey animals eaten in the wild. Of this total, five scats contained remains of Eumeces fasciatus, which was one of the more frequent items, although small mammals collectively made up the bulk of the scat contents.
Parasites
Skinks, like many other lizards, are likely to be infested with parasites. Little attention was devoted to the endoparasites in the present study, but they were noted from time to time. On several occasions small nematodes and flukes were seen in feces voided by lizards which were handled. Small white cysts were seen in the body cavities of several that were dissected.
Harwood (1932:65) examined for endoparasites nine E. fasciatus along with many other reptiles and amphibians collected near Houston, Texas. Most of them were infested and five kinds of helminths were identified. Two of the skinks were infested with Oswaldocruzia pipiens, a spirurid nematode that was also present in various other lizards, snakes, toads and frogs from the same region; four had Comocercoides dukae, an oxyurid nematode also present in various lizards, snakes, turtles, and frogs; one had in its intestine Oochoristica eumecis, named as a new species by Harwood, and found only in Eumeces; one contained Cysticercus sp. in its body cavity, present in great abundance as white globular structures .6 mm. in diameter (Harwood states that possibly these were larvae of Oochoristica). One skink contained Mesocoelium americanum, a dicrocoelid trematode which was found also in the brown skink (Scincella laterale) and DeKay’s snake (Storeria dekayi).
The ectoparasites of these skinks consist mainly of chiggers. Wharton (1952:135) lists three species; Trombicula alfreddugesi, T. splendens, and T. gurneyi. The first species is the common pest chigger of humans and domestic animals in the United States, and south through tropical America. Wharton lists 136 known hosts which are fairly evenly divided among mammals, birds and reptiles; he lists four kinds of frogs and toads. Trombicula splendens is a similar and closely related species which has been recorded from thirty-eight vertebrate hosts including mammals, birds, reptiles, and a tree-toad. Trombicula gurneyi belongs to a separate subgenus and it was originally recorded from Eumeces fasciatus which seems to be one of the principal hosts.
Two of these mites, T. alfreddugesi and T. gurneyi, were on skinks collected on the Reservation, and nearby areas. A four year study of the chiggers in this general region by Loomis (MS), Wolfenbarger (1953) and Kardos (MS) has clarified the ecological relationships of the several kinds of chiggers present, including their local distribution with respect to vegetation, soil type, moisture and temperature, host preferences, and seasonal occurrence. At the quarry, Rat Woods and the pond rock pile, the chigger population consisted chiefly of T. alfreddugesi, while at Skink Woods T. gurneyi was also abundant. In some local situations where they are among the most abundant of vertebrates the skinks probably are important as hosts of T. gurneyi. An individual skink may have dozens of chiggers on it at one time but usually there are fewer.