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Home , Henicorhina, Oxyrhopus, Oxyrhopus guibei, Oxyrhopus melanogenys, Oxyrhopus petolarius, Peruvian Yungas

Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 279-282 (2021) (published online on 01 February 2021)

Predation on a Gray-breasted Wood (Henicorhina leucophrys) by the False Coralsnake petolarius (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) in the Bolivian

Oliver Quinteros-Muñoz1,* and Rodrigo Aguayo1,2

The false coralsnake, (Linnaeus, adjacent to secondary humid montane (Cyathea 1758) is a Micrurus mimic (Bosque ­et al., 2016) of sp., Dicthyocaryum lamarckianum, Ficus sp.) near medium size (maximum snout–vent length 862 mm) and Chaquisacha, Carrasco National Park, Cochabamba with a thin body (Duellman, 2005). These are Department, (17.4108°S, 65.2373°W; elevation generally nocturnal but sometimes are observed during 1383 m). According to Ibich and Merida (2003), this area the day. They are primarily terrestrial, although the is part of the Bolivian-Peruvian Yungas ecoregion. The is also considered semi-arboreal, as are other species in distended midsection of the indicated that it had the (Alencar et al., 2013; Natera-Mumaw et al., recently swallowed a prey item, and after a few minutes 2015; Mikalauskas et al., 2017). Like their congeners, of handling the snake to take measurements and identify O. petolarius has an opisthoglyphous dentition (rearward it, it regurgitated an undigested (Fig. 1B). grooves), allowing it to inoculate prey with toxic secretions The prey was an adult Gray-breasted Wood Wren, (Lynch, 2009; MacCulloch et al., 2009). In Bolivia, the Henicorhina leucophrys (Tschudi, 1844) (Passeriformes: species has been recorded in lowland Amazonian Forest, Troglodytidae), a terrestrial bird inhabiting the understory Humid Mountain Cloud Forest (Yungas), and Tucumano- of Andean subtropical montane in , Bolivian Forests of the Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, , , , and Bolivia (Olmedo, 2019). La Paz, Pando, Santa Cruz, and Tarija Departments The snake was not collected, but it was easy to identify (Gonzales and Reichle, 2003; Embert, 2007; Aguayo, by its colouration and external characters (Giraudo, 2001; 2009; Reichle, 2019; Gonzales et al., 2020). Oxyrhopus Duellman, 2005; Costa et al., 2010). Although feeding petolarius is considered an ecological generalist, and its on has been considered part of the O. petolarius diet includes small mammals (including bats), , diet (Alencar et al., 2013; Gavira et al., 2015; Natera- birds (including eggs), amphibians, and snakes (Martins Mumaw et al., 2015), our observation is the first record and Oliveira, 1999; Palmuti et al., 2009; França and Lima, of H. leucophrys and the first evidence of the genus 2012; Gaiarsa et al., 2013; Nogueira et al., 2013; Caldeira Henicorhina in the diet of this snake in . et al., 2014; Serna-Botero et al., 2019). Information The feeding habits of O. petolarius are characterised by regarding its natural history in Bolivia is very limited, and the consumption of different-sized prey items (Alencar only a few reports for the family Dipsadidae from there et al., 2013; Gavira et al., 2015; Carilo Filho et al., 2017; are available (Quinteros-Muñoz et al., 2010; Quinteros- Crnobrna et al., 2017; Pazmiño-Otamendi et al., 2019). Muñoz, 2015) These authors posited that the consumption of large During fieldwork in the evening of 11 December prey is linked to morphological adaptations that enable 2018, a subadult O. petolarius (525 mm total length; a generalist diet. Cundall and Greene (2000) noted that Fig. 1A) was found at 23:47 h on an unpaved rural road prey size conditions the feeding process and, hence, relates to the selectivity of feeding in snakes. In this case, the total length of the prey (94 mm) corresponded to 18% of predator total length and can be considered a 1 Museo de Historia Natural Alcide d’Orbigny, Casilla 843, medium-sized item, qualifying as Type IV prey (Cundall Cochabamba, Bolivia. and Greene, 2000). 2 Centro de Biodiversidad y Genética, Universidad Mayor de Various records of bird by false coralsnakes San Simón, Casilla 538, Cochabamba, Bolivia. of the genus Oxyrhopus (Alencar et al., 2013; Gavira * Corresponding author E-mail: [email protected] et al., 2015; Natera-Mumaw et al., 2015) suggest that © 2021 by Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. these feeding habits can be the result of hunting strategy. 280 Oliver Quinteros-Muñoz & Rodrigo Aguayo

Figure 1. (A) Subadult specimen of Oxyrhopus petolarius, encountered close to Chaquisacha, Carrasco National Park, Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. (B) Regurgitated, undigested Henicorhina leucophrys recovered from the snake in (A). Photos by Oliver Quinteros-Muñoz (A) and José Balderrama (B).

One of these strategies could be one that Titcomb et only from potential predators, but the rapid and blurry al. (2014) hypothesised doubles as a defence strategy: movement fools the eye of the prey and allows the snake rapid movements combined with the alternating bright to approach undetected. bands or rings of coralsnakes hides these snakes not Predation on Henicorhina leucophrys by Oxyrhopus petolarius 281

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Accepted by Hinrich Kaiser