Dietary choices by four captive slender lorises (Loris tardigradus) when presented with various insect life stages.
Abstract
The slender loris (Loris tardigradus) is a rare, nocturnal prosimian found only in
the tropical rainforest of southern India and Sri Lanka. Little is known about their
diet, though it is assumed that insects comprise a majority of their wild diet. Based
on this assumption, captive lorises are offered a variety of insects or insect life
stages; the species of insect or the life stage is often determined by what is easiest
to buy or rear. Captive lorises at the Duke Lemur Center (DLC) were offered the opportunity
to choose which life stage of mealworms (Tenebrio molito), superworms (Zophobus morio),
or waxworms (Galleria mellonella) they preferred. The DLC captive lorises did not
select the largest life stages of any insect offered. They preferred the larvae stage
to the adult stage in all three insect species, and males and females had different
insect species and life stage preferences.
Type
Journal articlePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/16156Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1002/zoo.20346Publication Info
Clayton, Jonathan B; & Glander, Kenneth E (2011). Dietary choices by four captive slender lorises (Loris tardigradus) when presented
with various insect life stages. Zoo Biol, 30(2). pp. 189-198. 10.1002/zoo.20346. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/16156.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Kenneth Earl Glander
Professor Emeritus of Evolutionary Anthropology
Primate ecology and social organization: the interaction between feeding patterns
and social structure; evolutionary development of optimal group size and composition;
factors affecting short and long-term demographic changes in stable groups; primate
use of regenerating forests.

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