Environmental Temperatures and Activities in the Wood Turtle, Clemmys insculpta

Abstract

Cloacal and environmental temperatures of 205 wild wood turtles, Clemmys insculp- ta, from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania were recorded during various phases of their normal activities: basking, feeding, moving in water or on land, dormant in water or on land at both high and low temperatures, and courtship, mating, and nesting. The mean cloacal temperature for activity was calculated at 21.01?C and the normal activity range 7.5-30.0?C. Cloacal temperatures were closely correlated with those of the environment during all activities. Clemmys insculpta basked less frequently than its two sympatric congeners C. guttata and C muhlenbergii. C insculpta was also more terrestrially active and more active during midday than the other two Clemmys. Its ability to withstand warmer field temperatures than either C guttata or C. muhlenbergii is probably correlated with its larger body size. Reproductive activity and brumation are aquatic. Wood turtles do not aestivate and are predom- inately terrestrial during June-August, entering shaded forms or mud puddles to escape the heat.