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Herpetological Review 51(1), 2020
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 97
UBIRATÃ F. SOUZA, Graduação em Ciências Biológicas, Departamen-
to de Biologia, Laboratório de Estudo Herpetológicos e Paleoherpetológi-
cos da Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco,
Brazil (e-mail: ubirataferreirasouza@gmail.com); LUCAS RO SADO, Gradu-
ação em Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas
Gerais, Brazil (e-mail: lucasrosad@outlook.com); THIAGO SILVA-SOARES,
Instituto Marcos Daniel, Rua Fortunato Ramos 123, Vitória, ES 29.055-290,
Brazil (e-mail: thiagosilvasoares@hotmail.com); ALEXANDER T. MÔNICO,
Instituto Nacional da Mata Atlântica, Laboratório de Zoologia, Avenida
José Ruschi, n° 4, Centro, CEP 29650-000, Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, Brazil
(e-mail: alexandermonico@hotmail.com).
BREVICEPS ADSPERSUS ADSPERSUS (Bushveld Rainfrog).
DIET. Breviceps adspersus adspersus is a terrestrial, burrowing
frog, and is widespread throughout Southern and East Africa,
absent only in the southwestern regions. Breviceps a. adspersus
only emerge from their burrows during the rainy seasons to feed
and reproduce before retreating back underground (Milstein
1967. African Wildlife 21:167–168). Due to this lifestyle and the
harsh dry climate of southern Africa, B. a. adspersus remain in-
active for a large portion of the year. At 2219 h on 12 December
2018, during a mass termite emergence after the first seasonal
rains, a DOR female B. a. adspersus was located during a night
survey on the northern slopes of the Soutpansberg, Waterpoort
region, Limpopo, South Africa (22.88251°S, 29.60978°E; WGS 84;
735 m elev.). The frog was removed from the road and later dis-
sected. The stomach contents of the specimen consisted of ter-
mites (Macrotermes sp.), these prey items weighed a total of 13.9
g. The individual with its stomach contents removed weighed a
total of 23.9 g. This individual ate more than half its body weight
(58.16%) in termites in a single evening. It is plausible that due
to the species’ lifestyle, in drier climates these burrowing species
may depend on these mass insect emergences.
GARY K. NICOLAU, African Herpetological and Biodiversity Institute,
Limpopo, South Africa (e-mail: nicolauecology@gmail.com); RYAN VAN
HUYSSTEEN, Soutpansberg Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation, Me-
dike Nature Reserve, Limpopo, South Africa (e-mail: ryanvanhuyssteen@
gmail.com); EMILY A. JACKSON, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South
Africa (e-mail: emilyj357@gmail.com).
BUFO GARGARIZANS (Asian Toad). ATTEMPTED PREDATION.
Bufo gargarizans is widely distributed in Asia, and is highly toxic,
with skin containing bufotoxins (bufadienolides; Qi et al. 2011.
Int. Immunopharmac. 11:342–349). Only some predators, such
as Rhabdophis lateralis ( Tiger Keel-backed Snake), prey on the
toad, and then sequester and use the toxin as an antipredatory
defense (Gao et al 2011. Nat. Prod. Rep. 28:953–969). On 7 March
2019, at a small reservoir in Jeungbuk Gimje-si, South Korea
(35.77231°N, 126.93221°E; WGS 84; 21 m elev.), we observed a B.
gargarizans captured by the raptor Buteo japonicas. The raptor
sat on an electric wire after capturing the toad. After that, the
bird pecked the toad several times but did not eat it, and even-
tually dropped it. We searched for the toad on the ground, but
it had already escaped. We presume that the B. japonicus found
the toad distasteful or received some other chemosensory signal
indicating the toxicity of the toad before terminating the preda-
tion attempt.
This observation was supported by the Project for the
Development of Biological Diversity Threats Outbreak
Management Technology (RE201807039).
KYO SOUNG KOO, Research Center of Ecomimetics, Chonnam Na-
tional University, Gwangju 61186, Korea (e-mail: qp@hanmail.net);
SEOUNG-MIN PARK, HEE-JIN KANG, JAE HYEOK CHOI and HYE-RI N
PARK, School of Biological of Sciences and Biotechnology, Chonnam Na-
tional University, 61186 Gwangju, Republic of Korea; Ha-Cheol Sung, De-
partment of Biological Science, Chonnam National University, Gwangju
61186, Korea (e-mail: shcol2002@jnu.ac.kr).
DRYOPHYTES JAPONICUS (Japanese tree frog). ABNORMAL
PAT TERN. Dryophtes japonicus (formerly Hyla japonica) is a
common species in east Asia including South Korea. This spe-
cies normally shows a green or brown body color and a black
dorsolateral line (Kim et al. 2017. J. Ecol. Environ. 41:42). Some-
times D. japonicus changes its body color to blend with the sur-
rounding environment (Kang et al. 2016. Sci. Rep. 6:22601). The
vocal sac of males is normally white with no pattern, however it
changes to a yellowish or darkish color in the breeding season.
On 1 June 2017, in a rice paddy in Yeoncheon, Republic of Korea
(38.13075°N, 127.07392°E; WGS 84; 75 m elev.), an adult male D.
japonicus (32.5 mm SVL, 3.1 g) was discovered with an abnor-
mal pattern on the vocal sac and lateral sides of the body (Fig. 1).
Although the external morphology was different, the individual
made a similar mating call as other males. This is the first record-
ed case of an abnormal pattern in D. japonicus.
KYO SOUNG KOO, Department of Biology, Kangwon National Uni-
versity, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea (e-mail: qp@hanmail.net);
WOO JIN CHOI (e-mail: dreamcwj@naver.com); IL-KOOK PARK (e-mail:
Ileveli2@naver.com) and KIM JONG SUN, Division of Science Education,
Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea (e-
mail: jongsun331@naver.com).
FEJERVARYA CANCRIVORA (Crab-eating Frog). DUNGING.
Ambush-site selection is important for sit-and-wait predators
so that they maximize their encounter rate with potential prey
and optimize foraging success (González-Bernal et al. 2011.
Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 65:1367–1375). Dung piles can represent
important locations for insectivorous species because many
species of insects are attracted to fecal material. The targeting
of dung during ambush-site selection has been observed across
a number of taxa including amphibians (Cane Toads; Lettoof et
al. 2018. Current Zool. 64:433–439; Growling Grass Frogs, Litoria
raniformis; D. Michael pers. comm.), birds (Burrowing Owls,
Athene cunicularia; Levey et al. 2004. Nature 431:39), insects
Fig. 1. Male Dryophytes japonicus with abnormal pattern from Yeon-
cheon, Republic of Korea.
Herpetological Review 51(1), 2020
98 NATURAL HISTORY NOTES
(Rove Beetles, Leistotrophus versicolor; Forsyth and Alcock 1990.
J. Insect Behav. 3:703–718), and lizards (Caucasian Rock Agama,
Paralaudakia caucasia; Panov and Zykova 2016. Rock Agamas of
Eurasia. KMK Scienti‐c Press, Moscow, Russia, 325 pp.).
On the night of 26 April 2018 on the island of Rinca,
Indonesia (8.75660°S, 119.66812°E; WGS 84), we observed three
Crab-eating Frogs settled upon fresh dung piles (Fig. 1) from a
domestic Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) herd. We examined 13
more dung piles within the immediate vicinity and found two
more frogs exhibiting the same dunging behavior. We believe
that these frogs were using dung piles as an ambush-site to
increase their encounter rate with their principle prey, insects.
Previous examination of Crab-eating Frog gut contents has
reported that individuals living inland and around freshwater
(as reported here) predominantly preyed on insects, while those
living in a brackish environment chiefly ate crustaceans (Elliott
and Karunakaran 1974. J. Zool. 174:203–215). While we did not
observe any direct foraging, this behavior was similar to those
observed in other anuran species on bovid dung (Cane Toads;
González-Bernal et al. 2012. PLoS ONE 7:e49351). Alternatively,
the frogs may have been resting on fresh dung piles to absorb
warmth or moisture (González-Bernal et al. 2012, op. cit.);
however, standing water was present nearby, and the regional
overnight temperatures in April are warm (>20°C).
Crab-eating Frogs are one of the most broadly distributed
anurans in southeast Asia (Zhigang et al. 2009. The IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species: e.T58269A11759436). Although the
frogs on Rinca have only recently coexisted with the introduced
Water Buffalo, buffalo were introduced across southeast Asia
over the last 5000 years (Barker et al. 1997. Anim. Genet. 28:1–
13), so these two species have overlapped ecologically during
that period of time across their range. The presence of large
native fauna on the island (Varanus komodoensis; Komodo
Dragons) may provide similarly sized dung piles for the frogs to
perch upon, which suggests that the use of Water Buffalo dung
may be merely a demonstration of flexibility in ambush-site
selection.
We thank A. Azis for guiding us through some of the
beautiful islands of Lesser Sunda Archipelago and sharing all
of his expertise on Indonesian herpetofauna. We would also
like to thank N. Mohanty, D. Michael, and J. Measey for sharing
their insights into this topic.
JAMES BAXTER-GILBERT, Department of Botany and Zoology,
Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 7600 (e-mail: jx_bax-
tergilbert@laurentian.ca); JOANNE OCOCK, NSW National Parks and
Wildlife Service, New South Wales, Australia, 2390 (email: joanne.ocock@
environment.nsw.gov.au); CHRISTIAN ALESSANDRO PEREZ-MARTI-
NEZ, Museum of Comparative Zoology, 26 Oxford Street, Harvard Uni-
versity, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 02138 (e-mail: perez.christian.
alessandro@gmail.com); JULIA L. RILEY, Department of Botany and Zo-
ology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 7600 (e-mail:
julia.riley@gmail.com).
HYLODES MERIDIONALIS (Torrent Frog). ALBINISM. Re-
cords of albino amphibians are rare but distributed globally
and cover individuals in all developmental stages (Sazima
1974. J. Herpetol. 83:264–265; Norman and Mollier 2002. Bull.
Chicago Herp. Soc. 37:2–3; Toledo et al. 2011. Herpetol. Notes
4:145–146), particularly tadpoles (Martinuzzi et al. 2016. Cuad.
Herpetol. 30:69–73). Albinism is a rare anomaly; estimated be-
tween 1:10,000 and 1:30,000 individuals (Bechtel 1995. Reptile
and Amphibian Variants: Colors, Patterns and Scales. Krieger
Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida. 206 pp.). Therefore,
documenting cases of this abnormality is important to build a
database to drive hypotheses for future research.
Here, we report a case of albinism in the torrent frog, Hylodes
meridionalis. Frogs of the genus Hylodes are diurnal (Lutz 1930.
Mem. I. Oswaldo Cruz 24:195–222) and endemic to the Atlantic
Forest (Haddad et al. 1996. Copeia 1996:965–969), inhabiting
mostly first and second order streams. Hylodes meridionalis is
the southernmost Hylodes species, restricted to the states of
Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (Vargas et al.
2017. Herpetol. Notes 10:397–402). Individuals of typical H.
meridionalis exhibit dark brown dorsal coloration usually with
dark blotches and a cream lateral line under the nostril, eye and
tympanum (Mertens 1927. Blätter für Aquarien-und Terrarien-
Kunde 38:287–290).
Fig. 1. Fejervarya cancrivora dunging in Rinca, Indonesia.
Fig.1. Albino Hylodes meridionalis (left; MCN 14338) and normally
pigmented individual (right; MCN 14339) from Rio Grande do Sul,
Brazil.
