Herpetology Notes, volume 10: 403-404 (2017) (published online on 22 July 2017)

Predation on Hypsiboas bischoffi (Anura: Hylidae) by Phoneutria nigriventer (Araneae: Ctenidae) in southern Brazil

Nathalie Edina Foerster*, Bruno Henrique Grolli Carvalho and Carlos Eduardo Conte1, 2

Amphibians are attributed a considerable ecological possible to locate the frog while it was being predated value regarding their trophic level in the food chain since by Phoneutria nigriventer (Figure 1). After the call, the they are both prey and predators (Toft, 1980; Duellman frog was found completely paralyzed by the venom and Trueb, 1994; Stewart and Woolbright, 1996; Feio of P. nigriventer. The spider, standing on the branch et al., 1998), and can effectively control populations of a herbaceous plant, held the frog by insertingits of invertebrates such as mosquitoes (+agman andFhelicerae into the frog’s dorsal region. This spider Shine, 2005). As ectotherms, they are highly efficient belongs to the Ctenidae family, known for preying at converting energy from food into their own tissues. Therefore, they have an important role in the energy flow of the ecosystem as prey for invertebrates (Toledo, 2003; Toledo, 2005; Moura and Azevedo, 2011), birds (Toledo et al., 2005; Toledo et al., 2007; Andrade et al., 2013) and mammals (Santos, 2009; Shalk and Morales, 2012). Among invertebrates, spiders are an important group that prey upon amphibians (Menin et al., 2005; Toledo et al., 2007; Pombal Jr., 2007). Herein, we report Phoneutria nigriventer predating upon an individual of Hypsiboas bischoffi. The predation was observed on the 24 February 2013, during a field study in the National Forest of Piraí do Sul (24°34’S; 49°55’W). This National Park is located in the municipality of Piraí do Sul, State of Paraná, in the south of Brazil and comprises an area of around 150 ha, consisting mainly of Araucaria forest (Moro et al., 2009). The encounter was observed around 21:00h during a survey of breeding sites (Scoot and Woodward, 1994). The site was an old artificial tank, which now harbours a swamp. An agonistic call was emitted by the H. bischoffi, being a defensive strategy that has been reported many times before (Sazima, 1975; Hödl and Gollmann, 1986; Azevedo-Ramos, 1995; Williams et al., 2000). The agonistic call made it

1 Instituto Neotropical: Pesquisa e Conservação. C.P. 19009, CEP 81531-980 Curitiba, PR, Brazil. 2 Criadouro Onça Pintada, 1381, CEP 80520-070, Curitiba, PR, Figure 1. Phoneutria nigriventer predating on Hypsiboas Brazil bischoffi in Araucaria Forest area in the State of Paraná, South * Corresponding autor e-mail: [email protected] of Brazil 404 Nathalie Edina Foerster et al. on different species of anurans (Santana et al., 2009). Pombal-JR, J.P. (2007): Notas sobre predação em uma taxocenose The members of the Ctenidae family are nocturnal and de anfíbios anuros no sudeste do Brasil. Revista Brasileira de wait for the prey to be close enough for capture (Rego Zoologia, 24: 841–843. Rego, F.N.A.A., Venticinque, E.M., Brescovit, A.D. (2005): et al., 2005). The hylid Hypsiboas bischoffi is a small, Densidades de aranhas errantes (Ctenidae e Sparassidae, generalist species, widely distributed in the Atlantic Araneae) em uma floresta fragmentada. Biota Neotropica. Rainforests in southern Brazil (Frost, 2017). At the Available at: http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br/v5n1a/pt/abstra moment of observation, several males of H. bischoffi ct?article+BN002051a2005. Last acessed on 9 November 2016 were vocalizing. These anurans have a small body size, Santana, D.J., Silva, E.T., Oliveira, E.F. (2009): Predação de gregarious behaviour and are present in abundance at Dendropsophus elegans (Anura, Hylidae) por Phoneutria breeding sites during the breeding season, which makes nigriventer (Araneae, Ctenidae) em Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Boletim do Museu de Biologia Mello Leitão, 26: 1–7. them an easy prey to different groups of vertebrates and Santos, E.M. (2009): Notas sobre predação de anuros em uma poça invertebrates (Duellman and Trueb, 1994; Toledo et al., temporária no nordeste do Brasil. Boletim do Museu de Biologia 2007). 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Accepted by Madhava Meegaskumbura