Diet of the toad Rhinella icterica (Anura: Bufonidae) from Atlantic Forest Highlands of southeastern Brazil

Abstract

Abstract:In this study, we present some information of the regarding throphic niche from the anuran toad Rhinella icterica living in high altitudes above 2000 m a.s.l. from a habitat of the Atlantic Forest Biome -the Altitude Fields in the Itatiaia National Park. We found 150 prey items in toad stomachs, belonging to five prey types, as well as skin remains and some remains of plant material. The index of relative importance indicated that most important prey types were beetles and ants, these last composing 70% of the diet numerically and the trophic niche breadth (B) was 1.81. The relatively low diversity of prey types we recorded in the diet of R. icterica of Itatiaia and numerically dominated by ants suggests some preference for this item. We do not found significant relationship between the toad measurements with the preys' measurements. We concluded that R. icterica toads at the highlands of Itatiaia feeds on arthropods, mainly ants and coleopterans and that the high consumption of preys with relatively small and similar size as ants in the diet prevents an expected relationship among frog body or mouth size and prey volume and size. Resumo: No presente estudo apresentamos informações sobre o nicho trófico de uma espécie de anuro que reside em altitudes elevadas da Mata Atlântica. Descrevemos a dieta do sapo Rhinella icterica em altitudes acima de 2000 m em áreas de Campos de Altitude no Parque Nacional do Itatiaia. Encontramos 150 itens nos estômagos analisados de R. icterica, divididos em apenas cinco categorias de presa, além de vestígios da própria pele do anuro e restos vegetais. O índice de importância relativa indicou que besouros e formigas foram os itens mais importantes sendo que formigas representam 70% dos itens ingeridos. A amplitude de nicho trófico (B) foi de 1,81. O reduzido número de categorias alimentares, bem como o elevado número de formigas na dieta sugere que R. icterica apresente uma preferência por este item. Não encontramos nenhuma relação significativa entre as dimensões do anuro com as dimensões das presas. Concluímos que a população de R. icterica que habita os campos de altitude de Itatiaia alimentam-se de artrópodes, principalmente formigas e besouros. O alto consumo de presas com tamanho relativamente semelhante e pequeno como, por exemplo, formigas, impede uma relação esperada entre o tamanho do corpo do anuro ou o tamanho de sua mandíbula e tamanho e volume de presas. Palavras-chave: Amphibia, hábitos alimentares, campos de altitude, nicho trófico, sapo Cururu. 259Toad's diet of brazilian highlands

Diet and microhabitat use by juveniles Rhinella ornata (Anura, Bufonidae) in an insular Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest area

“…Ants (Formicidae) also represented most of the prey volume (about 44%) and frequency (around 90%). A diet composed mainly by Formicidae is consistent with previous diet studies with adults of this and other congeneric species, which were followed by Coleoptera and Isoptera (Ferreira and Teixeira, 2009;Sabagh et al, 2012;Maia-Carneiro et al, 2013). However, in our study, Coleoptera and Isoptera were items with relatively low IRI (20.4 and 15.86, respectively).…”

Food habits of Rhinella proboscidea (Anura: Bufonidae) in terra firme forests of central Amazonia

“…Rhinella proboscidea fed on a variety of invertebrates, but the abundance of ants, termites, and mites as prey in the study areas as suggests that the feeding strategy was that of active foragers (Toft 1980). This pattern also was observed for other species of Rhinella, as well as in other bufonids at localities across the globe (Clarke 1974, Hirai and Matsui 2002, Isacch and Barg 2002, Quiroga et al 2009, Sabagh et al 2012, Solé et al 2017) and members of the neotropical R. margaritifera species group (Duellman 1978, Toft 1980, 1981, Parmelee 1999, Maragno and Souza 2011, Fajardo-Martínez et al 2013, Astwood-Romero et al 2016. According to Isacch and Barg (2002), bufonid species probably specialized in ant consumption because they lack teeth, which would constrain the toads to a diet of small prey.…”

“…According to Isacch and Barg (2002), bufonid species probably specialized in ant consumption because they lack teeth, which would constrain the toads to a diet of small prey. For many species of Rhinella, beetles are the second most frequently consumed item (Duellman 1978, Toft 1980, 1981, Parmelee 1999, Isacch and Barg 2002, Quiroga et al 2009, Maragno and Souza 2011, Sabagh et al 2012. However, in our study areas, Isoptera (Termitidae), Acari, and Araneae were also important prey items in the diet of R. proboscidea.…”

Diet of bromeliad-frog Phyllodytes luteolus (Anura, Hylidae) in Atlantic Forest environments: what have the frogs been eating outside sandy coastal plains?

“…They are therefore considered to be generalists in their diet. However, prey consumption by amphibians may vary in composition and size, especially when populations live in different environments (Berazategui et al, 2007;Sabagh et al, 2012;Maia-Carneiro et al, 2013).…”