SREL Reprint #2481

Diet of the mole Scalopus aquaticus from the coastal plain region of South Carolina

Gregory D. Hartmen1, John O. Whitaker, Jr.2, and Jack R. Munsee2

1W. A. K. Seale Vertebrate Museum, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences,
McNeese State University, Lake Charles, Louisiana 70609
2Department of Life Sciences, Indiana State University, Terre Haute 47809

Abstract: We examined the stomach contents of 374 eastern moles (Scalopus aquaticus) collected throughout the year from the Coastal Plain region of South Carolina. On average, stomach contents of males weighed significantly more than did those of females. Fifty-two different food items were recorded. The three most important foods were scarabaeid beetle larvae, ants and centipedes. Earthworms were observed in only 8.3% of the stomachs examined and represented only about 3% of the mean percent volume of the diet. Ants comprised 15.4% of the total volume. Twenty-nine species of ant were recorded; of these, four were taxa not previously reported to occur on the SRS. The imported red fire ant Solenopsis invicta was common within the study area; however, no individuals of this species were found in any of the mole stomachs.

SREL Reprint #2481

Hartman, G. D., J. O. Whitaker, Jr., and J. R. Munsee. 2000. Diet of the mole Scalopus aquaticus from the coastal plain region of South Carolina. American Midland Naturalist 144:342-351.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).