Fieldwork Ecuador

Predation on Barycholos pulcher (Anura: Craugastoridae) by a wolf spider (Araneae: Lycosidae) in a forest in western Ecuador

July 2022

Fig. 1. Spider of family Lycosidae injecting venom with their chelicerae on a Barycholos pulcher in Jauneche, Los Ríos province, Ecuador.

Fig. 2. Dorsal (A) and ventral view (B) of Barycholos pulcher after being attacked by the wolf spider.

Amphibians are important organisms in the energy flow of an ecosystem. The Chimbo frog (Barycholos pulcher) is a species endemic to the western forests of Ecuador, and is a very common frog of the leaf-litter habitat in the Pedro Franco Dávila Biological Station "Jauneche". At the end of 2009, during a field trip to determine the composition of the amphibians and reptiles that inhabit Jauneche, I observed a wolf spider (Lycosidae) devouring a Chimbo frog on the forest floor (Fig. 1). The spider had its chelicerae inserted in the frog, with which injected a neurotoxic venom to paralyze the frog. The spider released the frog, possibly due to my presence, which made it possible to observe the damage of the venom and the predation process of the spider on the frog (Fig. 2).

B. pulcher in Jauneche has a high percentage in the terrestrial biomass of leaf litter, therefore its role as prey is very important in this ecosystem, and it is possible that in addition to serving as food for spiders, it may also form part of the diet of other animals such as snakes.

herping


herping

with Dharma

bat cave


Familia de monos aulladores Alouatta palliata en la Reserva Ecológica Manglares Churute.

Mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata)

Cerro Blanco Protected Forest

Shuar territory

Cordillera del Cóndor - Ecuadorian Amazon

Pristimantis unistrigatus

Pujilí, Cotopaxi