The diet of Australian skinks has been extensively studied, while comparatively little is known about the dietary preferences of skink species from other continents. The three-toed skink, Chalcides chalcides, inhabits Northern Africa and Italy, yet its dietary habits have only been investigated in populations from Southern and Central Italy.

A study published in Acta Herpetologica in 2022 provided the first detailed account of the diet of a C. chalcides population from Northern Italy (Oltrepò Pavese, Lombardy). Twenty individuals were captured in the wild, measured, and weighed. Fecal pellets were collected non-invasively before releasing the skinks back into their habitat. The pellets were then analyzed in the laboratory to identify prey items to the family or order level.

The analysis revealed that the diet of the northern population was dominated by spiders, which accounted for nearly 44% of all prey items identified. Hemiptera followed, representing 35% of the diet, while ants were consumed less frequently and constituted a secondary food source. Notably, no significant dietary differences were found between adult and juvenile skinks, contrasting with the ontogenetic trophic shifts commonly reported in several non-European skink species.

In all Italian populations studied to date, spiders consistently emerge as the primary prey type, aligning with the species' dentition, which is well adapted to feeding on soft-bodied invertebrates. However, the diet observed in this northern population displays some notable differences compared to southern populations. These variations may reflect the limited sample size of the study or be attributed to local differences in prey availability.

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