DIET OF CROCIDURA PACHYURA (KUSTER, 1835) (MAMMALIA: SORICIDAE) IN SEVERAL LOCALITIES OF ALGERIA

Ecological information, including food habits, on African shrews is scarce. The aim of this study was to describe the diet of Crocidura pachyura (Mister, 1835) in Algeria. Its diet was studied by analysing stomach contents of 95 shrews collected in pitfall and Sherman traps, from June 2007 to September 2008 and from March 2012 to May 2014, in eight localities of North-Central Algeria, from the sea level until 1390 m (Tigzirt, Boukhalfa, Ouadias, El Misser, Darna, Tala Guilef, Zeralda and Reghaia). The diet was composed of 99 different prey taxa distributed in seven invertebrate classes (Clitellata, Nematelminthes, Gastropoda, Arachnida, Crustacea, Myriapoda and Insecta), one vertebrate (Squamata) and plants, particularly seeds. The most important components of the diet were invertebrates: their contribution was 77.05 % of the overall diet composition. Insects were the most frequent prey with 54.3 %. Crocidura pachyura feeds on small preys lower than 17 mm (average 4 mm) and the diversity index of Shannon-Weaver varied between 1.58 and 4.88 (average 2.4). Comparisons with similar studies in Algeria and Europe for C. russula showed some differences especially for Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera proportions.