Article

Amaël Borzée, PhD, Department of Life Sciences and Division of EcoScience, Ewha Womans University (Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea); e-mail: amaelborzee@gmail.com

Borzée A. 2019. First amphibian behavioural observation from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea: predation of a Dryophytes japonicus tadpole by Hydaticus sp. larvae. Nature Conservation Research Vol. 4(1): 106–108. https://dx.doi.org/10.24189/ncr.2019.002

Data on the predator-prey relationship of small animal species is still understudied, especially in countries where scientific research is not yet widely shared, such as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Here, I report the interaction between a Hydaticus sp. larvae and a Dryophytes japonicus treefrog tadpole, where the invertebrate preyed on the vertebrate. This is the first data available on the diet of a Hydaticus sp. larvae, and the first behavioural observation of D. japonicus, in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

anuran, food web, Japanese treefrog, North Korea, predation

Received: 03.09.2018. Revised: 06.11.2018. Accepted: 07.11.2018.

Baber M.J., Babbitt K.J. 2004. Influence of habitat complexity on predator-prey interactions between the fish (Gambusia holbrooki) and tadpoles of Hyla squirella and Gastrophryne carolinensis. Copeia 2004(1): 173–177. DOI: 10.1643/CE-03-056R1
Caldwell J.P., Thorp J.H., Jervey T.O. 1980. Predator-prey relationships among larval dragonflies, salamanders, and frogs. Oecologia 46(3): 285–289. DOI: 10.1007/BF00346253
Cecil S.G., Just J.J. 1979. Survival rate, population density and development of a naturally occurring anuran larvae (Rana catesbeiana). Copeia 1979(3): 447–453. DOI: 10.2307/1443221
Chivers D.P., Mirza R.S. 2001. Importance of predator diet cues in responses of larval wood frogs to fish and invertebrate predators. Journal of Chemical Ecology 27(1): 45–51. DOI: 10.1023/A:1005663815856
Culler L.E., Ohba S.-y., Crumrine P. 2014. Predator-prey interactions of dytiscids. In: D.A. Yee (Ed.): Ecology, Systematics, and the Natural History of Predaceous Diving Beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae). Dordrecht: Springer. P. 363–386. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-9109-0_8
Hasumi M., Hongorzul T., Terbish K. 2011. Animal species diversity at a land–water ecotone in Mongolia. Limnology 12(1): 37–45. DOI: 10.1007/s10201-010-0319-z
Heo K., Kim Y.I., Bae Y., Jang Y., Borzée A. 2019. First report of Dryophytes japonicus tadpoles in saline environment. Russian Journal of Herpetology 26.
Kim Y.E. 2016. Differential antipredator behavior between Hyla japonica and H. suweonensis suggests separate evolution. M.Sc. Thesis. Seoul: Ewha Womans University.
Kim L., Han G. 2009. Chosun Animal Encyclopedia, Herpetology Volume. Pyongyang, DPRK: Science and Technology Publisher.
Kishida O., Nishimura K. 2005. Multiple inducible defences against multiple predators in the anuran tadpole, Rana pirica. Evolutionary Ecology Research 7(4): 619–631.
Klecka J., Boukal D.S. 2012. Who eats whom in a pool? A comparative study of prey selectivity by predatory aquatic insects. PloS ONE 7(6): e37741.
Klecka J., Boukal D.S. 2013. Foraging and vulnerability traits modify predator–preybody mass allometry: freshwater macroinvertebratesas a case study. Journal of Animal Ecology 82(5): 1031–1041. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12078
Relyea R.A. 2001. Morphological and behavioural plasticity of larval anurans in response to different predators. Ecology 82(2): 523–540. DOI: 10.1890/0012-9658(2001)082[0523:MABPOL]2.0.CO;2
Relyea R.A. 2003. Predators come and predators go: the reversibility of predator-induced traits. Ecology 84(7): 1840–1848. DOI: 10.1890/0012-9658(2003)084[1840:PCAPGT]2.0.CO;2
Roh G., Borzée A., Jang Y. 2014. Spatiotemporal distributions and habitat characteristics of the endangered treefrog, Hyla suweonensis, in relation to sympatric H. japonica. Ecological Informatics 24: 78–84. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.07.009
Smith M.J., Drew M.M., Peebles M., Summers K. 2005. Predator cues during the egg stage affect larval development in the Gray Treefrog, Hyla versicolor (Anura: Hylidae). Copeia 2005(1): 169–173. DOI: 10.1643/CE-04-084R1
Takahara T., Kohmatsu Y., Maruyama A., Yamaoka R. 2006. Specific behavioral responses of Hyla japonica tadpoles to chemical cues released by two predator species. Current Herpetology 25(2): 65–70. DOI: 10.3105/1345-5834(2006)25[65:SBROHJ]2.0.CO;2
Tamada K. 2012. Seasonal change in habitat use by Grey Herons in a rural area of western Hokkaido. Ornithological Science 11(2): 95–102. DOI: 10.2326/osj.11.95
Wellborn G.A., Skelly D.K., Werner E.E. 1996. Mechanisms creating community structure across a freshwater habitat gradient. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 27: 337–363. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.27.1.337
Yoon I.B., Ahn K.J. 1988. A Systematic Study of Korean Dytiscidae III. – Colymbetinae and Dytiscinae. Korean Journal of Entomology 18(4): 251–268. [In Korean]