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Plethodon
have direct development and with few exceptions
are
not considered
to be tied to aquatic habitats.
At 2030 h on 03 August 2014, we found an adult P
chattahoochee
perched on top of a small rock in the middle of
fast-flowing Mulky Creek in Chattahoochee National Forest,
Union Co., Georgia, USA (34.783838"N,
84.055721'W;
datum
WGSB4). The st¡eam was -5 m wide and -20 cm deep. We
encountered the same salamander twice more over the next 2
h as it moved among different rocks in the stream, seemingly
following no particular pattern with respect to the banks or
direction of flow of the stream. At no point did we observe it
submerged, although it swam capably downstream using its
tail for Iateral undulation when we dislodged it from its perch.
It is uncertain whether this salamander's
presence
in the st¡eam
was intentional or accidental, but it apparently was not actively
trying to return to the shore. It is unusual for any member of the
P
glutinosus complex to be found in such an aquatic habitat.
ANDREW
M. DURSO, Department of Biology, Utah
State University,
Logan, Utah 84322,
USA
(e-mail:
amdursopgmail.com);
CYNTHIA M.
CARTER, Department of Biology,
Eastern lllinois
University, Charleston,
lllinois 61920, USA;
TODD W. PIERSON, Department
of Ecology and Evo-
lutionary Biology, University
of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennesee
37920, USA;
NATALIA BAYONA,
Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar
y Limnología,
Laborato-
rio de Genética
de Organismos Acuáticos, Instituto de Ciencias
del
Mar
y
Limnología,
Ciudad Universitaria, México DF, México.
ANURA
_ FROGS
AGALYCHNIS DACNICOLOR (Mexican Leaf Treefrog). PREDA-
TION. Agalychnis dacnicolor is a medium-sized tree frog en-
demic to elevations
less than 1000 m in the tropical deciduous
forest of Mexico (Duellman 2001. The Hylid Frogs of Middle
America, Expanded
Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians
and Reptiles,
Ithaca, NewYork, 753 pp.). Possible
predators of A.
dacnícolor include snakes of the genera Leptophis, Drymobius
and Leptodeíra; however these observations are not formally
established
in the scientific literature. At 2024 h on 16 Novem-
ber 2011,
in the remnants of a temporary pool formed during
the wet season
(18.001963'N,
98.520717'W; datum WGSB4), we
discovered
an adult male Mexican Blue-footed Tarantula (Bon-
netina papalutlensís)
with a newly metamorphosed A. dacnicolor
in its chelicerae
(Fig. l). In the general area we also observed a
Ftc. I. Bonnetina papalutlensrs predating a metamorph Agalychnis
dacnicolot
large
number of young frogs
emerging
from the same
pool. Most
frogs showed signs of a tail, suggesting that this was a recently
metamorphosed cohort. This is the first record of predation on A.
dacnicolor
by an arthropod.
vlCToR H. JtMÉNEz-ARCos
(e-mail:
biol.victorjimenez@gmail.
com),
ERIC CENTENERO-ALCALA,
Laboratorio de Ecología,
Unidad de
Biotecnología
y Prototipos, FES lztacala, Universidad Nacional
Autónoma
de México. Av de
los Barrios 5/N. Los Reyes lxtacala,Tlalnepantla,
Edo. De
México. C.P.
54090, México; LEOPOTDO D. VÁZQUEZ REYES,
Museo de
Toología
Adolfo L. Herrera, Departamento de Biología Evolutiva,
Facultad
de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Apartado
Postal
70-399 México D.F. 04510, México; CHRISTOPHER BLAIR,
Department
of Biology, Duke University Box 90338, BioSci 130 Science Drive, Durham,
North Carolina 27708, USA; SAMUEL A. SANTA CRUZ-PADILLA,
Naturam
Sequi
AC. 16 de Septiembre
#43,
Col. Ampliación Cd. de los Niños, Naucal-
pan
de Juarez, Edo. de México. C.P.53450, México.
ANAXYRUS
DEBIIIS (Green Toad). PREDATION. Little is known
about the natural history of Anaxyrus (=Bufo) debíIis exceptthat
it breeds in shallow temporary rain pools, fishless
ponds, or in-
termittent streams coinciding with the onset of summer rains
(Degenhardt
et al. 1996. Amphibians and Reptiles
of New Mexi-
co. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. 431 pp.). Here
I describe
predation of A. debilísby the Great Horned Owl (Bubo
uirginianus).
On 28
Iune 2010,
a dried ca¡cass
of an adult male (approx.
S\lL
= 34 mm, possessing
a black throat) A. debílís was found while
collecting owl pellets
under a small nesting cave of a pair of Great
Horned Owls at Lake Alan HenryWildlife Mitigation Area, ca. 13
km S,
26 kmW of Clairemont, Kent Co.,
Texas,
USA (33.048429'N,
101.033878'W;
datum WGSB4). The only visible injury was a
wide gouge behind the eyes which incised the left parotoid
gland. Based on the previous collection date of owl pellets and
the amount of desiccation,
the toad was probably preyed upon
between 14-24 htne 2010. Healy rains occurred twice during
the period, resulting in the filling of many depressions
created
by cattle and feral hogs, conducive to A. debilisbreedrng
(Griffis-
Kyle 2009. Herpetol. Rev. 40:199-200).
The male A. debilis was
probably preyed on while calling after the healy rain, brought
to the nestlings, then discarded,
likely because its parotoid gland
was punctured.
As an opportunistic predator, the Great Horned Owl feeds
on a wide va¡iety of nocturnal prey, primarily mammalian, with
only a very small percentage
of the diet comprising amphibians
(Artuso et al. 2014. The Birds of North Ame¡ica Online: http://
bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/372).
For North America,
I found no previous records of the Great Horned Owl preying
on any species
of toad (Artuso et aL.2014,
op. cit.) and only few
records
of owls preying on bufonids. The lack of bufonids in owl
prey data and the incident reported herein are contrary to the
statement
of Olsen (1989.
Copeia l989:391-397) that owls are
able to avoid dorsal surface toxins by consuming the vulnerable
ventral portions.
STEPHEN
KASPER, Lake Alan Henry Wildlife Mitigat¡on Area, Parks
and
Recreation
Department, City of Lubbock, Lubbock, Texas 79401
, USA;
e-mail:
skasper@mail.ci.lubbock.tx.us.
CTENOPHRVNE ATERRIMA (Costa Rica Nelson Frog). DIET.
Ctenophryne
aterrimais a secretive, fossorial,
and nocturnal frog
that spends much time under surface litter on the forest floor.
This species is considered insectivorous, more or less exclu-
sively eating termites and ants (Savage
2002.The Amphibians
o
z
z
I
0
o
o
I
Herpeto logica
I Rev
ieu 4 S
(4), 2 0 1 4
Frc.1. Ctenophryne
atenimafeeding on leafcutter ants (Acromyrmex
sp.)
in üe cloud forest of Cerro Brewster, Chagres National Park, Pan-
amá.
and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna berlveen
Two Con-
tinents, between Two Seas. The University of Chicago P¡ess,
Chi-
cago, Illinois. 934
pp.). At2216
h on 20
Iuly 2009
in the Chagres
National Park in Cerro
Brewster, Panamá,
Panamá
(9.31995"N,
79.2887I"W,
datumWGSB4;
elev.
800 m), we found a C.
aterrima
preying on leafcutter ants (Acromyrmex sp.). This observation
was made on a cloudy night (mean temp. = 22.7'C) in a cloud
forest
within a hole in the ground used for dumping waste. The
frog sat on one side ofthe passing group
ofants, obserüng their
movements and employing a sit-and-wait feeding strategy.
In
a period of approximately ten minutes it only ate two ants and
removed pieces
of leaves
from its mouth with its forelimbs. The
frog and ants were photographed and left without disturbance.
This is the first report of predation on leafcutter ants of genus
Acromyrmexby C.
aterrimain its natural distribution.
We thank the Fundación Parque Nacional Chagres for
proüding funding for the fieldwork, the Autoridad Nacional del
Ambiente for providing the appropriate permissions
and Ernesto
Gómez
for verification genus
of ants.
ANGEL SOSA BARTUANO
(e-mail:
asosa2983@gmail.com), and JORGE
GUERREL
(e-mail: jguerrel@gmail.com),
Sociedad Mastozoológica de Pan-
amá, Apartado
0835-00680, Panamá, Republic of Panamá.
ELEU T
H ERO DACTYLU
S WI G HT MAN AE (Melodious Coqu
i ). RE-
PRODUCTION, PARENTAL CARE, AND CALLING SITES. E/eu-
therodactylus tuightmanae is a small anuran (mean S\¡L = 20.2
mm) common in high elevation forests and inhabits forest leaf
lit-
ter (Stewart
andWoolbright 1996. In Reagan andWaide [eds.],
The
Food
Web of a Tropical Rain Forest,
pp. 273-320. The University
of Chicago
Press, Chicago, lllinois). The species is listed as endan-
gered on the IUCN Red List (Angulo 2008. www.iucnredlist.org,
Version 2014; accessed 26 September 2014); howeve¡ the Depart-
ment of Natural and Environmental Resources
of the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico does not list the species or consider it to be
under any imminent threat (Departamento de Recursos
Natura-
les y Ambientales.
2004.
Reglamento
para Regir
las Especies Vul-
nerables
y en Peligro de Extinción en el Estado
Libre
Asociado
de
Puerto Rico. Departamento de Estado Número Reglamento 6766.
ELA,
DRNA, San
luan, Puerto Rico. 60
pp.).
Male E. wightmanae call up to 100 cm above
the ground but
females
rarely climb (Drewry and Rand 1983.
Copeia l9B3:941-
Herpe tologiu I Ret'
iezt: 4
5 (4), 20 1
4
Ftc. I. Eleutherodactyhts
wightmanae in Puerto Rico. A-C) Shape
and size characteristics of egg clutches in plastic tubes. D) dorsal
coloration patterns in hatchlings in the laboratory. E) dorsal color-
ation pattern in an adult in the field. F) dorsal coloration pattern in a
hatchling in the ñeld. G-H) males
guarding egg clutches inside plas-
tic tubes (arrow in (H) highlights guarding male showing brooding
behavio¡,
with his fore limb in contact with an eggJ.
953). Little is known of the reproductive biology of this species
(Joglar
1998. Los Coquíes
de Puerto Rico: Su Historia Natural y
Conservación.
Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, San