Predation of Platymantis Luzonensis Brown, Alcala, Diesmos and Alcala, 1997 on a Stick Insect (Insecta: Phasmatodea) in Mt
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Herpetology Notes, volume 13: 747-748 (2020) (published online on 07 September 2020) Predation of Platymantis luzonensis Brown, Alcala, Diesmos and Alcala, 1997 on a Stick Insect (Insecta: Phasmatodea) in Mt. Makiling, Philippines Kristian James E. Suetos1,*, Camila G. Meneses2, Kier Mitchel E. Pitogo1, Josefa Isabel C. Tauli1, James DV. Alvarez2†, and Lief Erikson D. Gamalo3,4,* Platymantis luzonensis Brown, Alcala, Diesmos and luzonensis sitting on a boulder by a stream, swallowing Alcala, 1997 is a ceratobatrachid frog endemic to the an insect. Half of the body of the prey was still Philippines. This species belongs to the Platymantis protruding and it was possible to identify the prey as guentheri group (Alcala and Brown, 1999) and is a phasmatodean stick insect of the family Lonchodidae restricted to the southeastern region of Luzon Island and (Fig. 1). The frog was captured and released after prey to the Polillo group of islands, ranging in altitude from 100 to 1200 metres above sea level (Brown et al., 1997; Diesmos, 1998). Platymantis luzonensis inhabits primary and secondary forest and is an arboreal species found on shrubs, trees, pandan leaves, and epiphytic plants up to five metres above the forest floor. Knowledge on its ecology remains limited despite having been described over two decades ago (Brown et al., 1997). Herein, we report the first recorded diet item of P. luzonensis on Mt. Makiling, Philippines, a rarely observed behaviour. On 30 May 2018 at 19:40 h while doing field surveys at Mudspring (14°8’12.75”N, 121°13’16.73”E; 422 metres above sea level), an area of lowland forest in Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve, a team from the University of the Philippines Los Baños Museum of Natural History (UPLB-MNH) observed an individual of Platymantis 1 Animal Biology Division, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna 4031, Philippines. 2 Museum of Natural History, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Los Baños, Laguna, 4031, Philippines. 3 Department of Biological Sciences and Environmental Studies, College of Science and Mathematics, University of the Philippines Mindanao, Davao City 8000, Philippines. 4 Wildlife-Human Interaction Studies, Ecological Research, and Biodiversity Conservation Laboratory, University of the Philippines Mindanao, Davao City 8000, Philippines. Figure 1. A Platymantis luzonensis Brown, Alcala, Diesmos * Corresponding authors. E-mails:����������������� kesuetos�up.edu.ph, and Alcala, 1997 feeding on an unidentified stick insect gamalolief�gmail.com (Insecta: Lonchodidae) in Mt. Makiling, Philippines. 748 Kristian James E. Suetos et al. identification, although it was not possible to collect the References stick insect for a finer identification. Alcala, A.C., Brown, W.C. (1999): Philippine frogs of the genus Most anurans are generalist predators and feed mainly Platymantis (Amphibia: Ranidae). Philippine Journal of Science on arthropods and other invertebrates (Duellman and 128(4): 281–288. Trueb, 1994). Adult frogs feed on a variety of items Almeria, M.L., Nuñeza, O.M. (2013): Diet of seven anuran that are generally determined by the species’ body size species (Amphibia: Anura) in Agusan Marsh, Mindanao, and mouth width (Toft, 1980, 1981). In the Philippines, Philippines. Animal Biology & Animal Husbandry 5(1): 116– 126. previous reports show that anuran species tend to prefer Ates, F.B., Palafox, D.B., Delima, E.M. (2007): Diet composition of smaller prey items relative to their size, specifically six anurans (Amphibia: Anura) in Terminalia Forest, Mindanao hymenopterans (Ates et al., 2007; Almeria and Nuñeza, Island, Philippines. Banwa: The Multidisciplinary Journal of UP 2013). Our observation suggests that P. luzonensis can Mindanao 4(2): 7–20. feed on large prey as already reported in other species Brown, W.C., Alcala, A.C., Diesmos, A.C., Alcala, E.L. (1997): (e.g. Philautus acutirostris [Peters, 1867] predating Species of the guentheri group of Platymantis with descriptions upon a fish; Ates et al., 2007). This observation offers of four new species. Proceedings of the California Academy of opportunities for future studies on the feeding ecology Sciences 50: 1–20. Diesmos, A.C. (1998): The amphibian faunas of Mount Banahao, of this species and helps fill important knowledge gaps Mount San Cristobal, and Mount Maquiling, Luzon Island, in Philippine herpetological research. Philippines. Unpublished Graduate Thesis, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. Acknowledgement. We thank the University of the Philippines Duellman, W.E., Trueb, L. (1994): Biology of Amphibians, Los Baños Museum of Natural History for the opportunity to join Baltimore, USA, The John Hopkins University Press. the fieldwork in Mt. Makiling where the observation happened. Toft, C.A. (1981): Feeding ecology of Panamanian litter anurans: We are also grateful to Dr. Arvin Diesmos for his expert advice patterns in diet and foraging mode. Journal of Herpetology and recommendations in this manuscript. We also thank Orlando 15(2): 139–144. Eusebio and Cristian Lucañas for the identification of the stick Toft, C.A. (1980): Feeding ecology of thirteen syntopic species of insect. This work is dedicated to the late James DV. Alvarez, a anurans in a seasonal tropical environment. Oecologia 45(1): young Filipino mammologist. We are truly grateful for his inputs 131–141. and for his contributions to Philippine biodiversity research and conservation Accepted by Angelica Crottini.