Dry-season retreat and dietary shift of the dart-poison frog Dendrobates tinctorius (Anura: Dendrobatidae)

Summary

Dry-season retreat and dietary shift of the dart-poison frog Delldrobates tillCtOrillS (Anura: Dendrobatidae). Seasonal rainfall affects tropical forest dynamics and behavior of species that are part of these ecosystems. TIle positive correlation between amphibian ac tivity pattems and rainfall has been demonstrated repea tedly. Members of Dendrobatidae, a clade of Neotropical dart-poison frogs, are well known for their habitat use and behavior during the rainy season, but their behavior during the dry season has received little attention. We shldied habitat use and diet of the dendrobatid frog Delldrobates tillctorills in French Guiana during the rainy and dry seasons. Unlike many other dendrobatid frogs. D. tillctorills does not maintain territOlies for the entire rainy seaSOIl. Both sexes colonize recently formed canopy-gaps and stay in these forest patches for only a few weeks. The frogs in these patches consume a great diversity of prey. consisting of mIts. beetles. wasps. insect larvae, and mites. During the dry season, frogs move to retreat sites in mature foresL such as palm brac ts and tree holes. TIle frogs are less active and consume fewer prey items in the dry season, and they consume fewer wasps and insect larvae, but more tenllites. Ants are the most common prey items during both the wet and dry sea sons. We discuss the effec ts of shifts in seasonal habitat use on the territorial behavior of dendrobatid frogs.