Iberian worm lizard
Two Moorish power rooting
The Moorish Netzwühle ( Blanus cinereus ), also called calendula worm, is a species of amphisbaenians ( amphisbaenians ) in the genus Blanus. In addition to the Turkish Netzwühle ( Blanus strauchi ) is the only species of amphisbaenians in Europe - their range covers most of the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco.
Features
The Moorish Netzwühle is with a body length of 20-28 centimeters a small to medium -sized species of amphisbaenians. It is snake -shaped and has no legs. The body is occupied by uniform rectangular body scales, which are arranged in parallel and give the animal a segmented appearance. The color is flesh-colored, gray or brown without markings; the belly is slightly lighter in color than the back.
The small head is offset only by a slight furrow and body - can only be distinguished by two small black dot eyes from the dull rounded tail end - on superficial examination.
Distribution and habitat
The distribution of Moorish Netzwühle covers most of the Iberian Peninsula with the exception of the north. It includes Portugal are almost entirely and the greatest part of Spain. It also occurs along with two other Blanus species in the North-West African Morocco. The Moorish Netzwühle inhabited mainly the lowlands, but also comes in the zentraliberischen mountains at altitudes of about 1800 meters above MSL.
As habitat it prefers dry to sandy soils; However, it can be also found in wetter and humus-rich agricultural land.
Way of life
The species lives mainly underground in the soil, very rarely under stones. It feeds mainly on soil insects, including especially ants and ant pupae, but also caterpillars, beetle larvae, termites and worms. In summer, females lay from one to two eggs in the soil.
Threats and conservation
The Moorish Netzwühle is classified by the IUCN as not at risk. This assessment is due to the large distribution area of the species and due to the high estimated populations.