FROG EGGS ON THE MENU: RINGED GLASSTAIL SNAKE, Pliocercus euryzonus (SQUAMATA: DIPSADIDAE) PREYING ON AN EGG MASS OF GLIDING LEAF FROG, Agalychnis spurrelli (ANURA: PHYLLOMEDUSIDAE) IN COSTA RICA

Alexander Moya-Valverde; Rosbil González

doi:10.22201/fc.25942158e.2025.2.1172

Authors

Alexander Moya-Valverde Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica
Rosbil González

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22201/fc.25942158e.2025.2.1172

Keywords:

False coral snake, feeding behavior, predation, oophagy, human structures

Abstract

We report the first observation of the Ringed Glasstail Snake (Pliocercus euryzonus) feeding on eggs of the Gliding Leaf Frog (Agalychnis spurrelli). This report contributes to the expanding knowledge of the dietary habits of cryptic snake species and provides an additional record of oophagy within snakes. Furthermore, it adds to the list of known predators of Agalychnis spurelli, highlighting the significance of its reproductive ecology, particularly in relation to prey aggregation for other species.

References

Alvarado, J.G.A., D. Varela-Soto, C. Gómez-Campos, M. O’Donnell & N.G Sales. 2024. Notes on the diet of the ground snakes Pliocercus euryzonus and Urotheca guentheri (Squamata: Dipsadidae) from Costa Rica. Revista Latinoamericana de Herpetología 7:177-180.

Brown, B. & R. Horan. 2012. A key to neotropical region frog-egg-feeding species of Megaselia (Diptera: Phoridae), with a new species from Panama. Contributions in science 520:1-4.

Duellman, W.E. 1970. The Hylid Frogs of Middle America. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.

Durango, J., E. Garzón-Franco, M. Mejía & J. Arredondo. 2022. Predation by a Cope’s False Coralsnake, Pliocercus euryzonus (Cope 1862) (Dipsadidae), on a catfish (Trichomycteridae: Trichomycterus) in the northern Andes of Colombia. Reptiles & Amphibians 29:95-97.

Escalante, R. 2022. Predation on Gliding Leaf Frog (Agalychnis spurrelli) eggs by Savage’s Thin-toed Frog (Leptodactylus savagei) tadpoles in Sierpe de Osa, Costa Rica. Reptiles & Amphibians 29:83-84.

Escalante, R. & D. Acuña. 2021. Tailless Whip Scorpions (Paraphrynus laevifrons) preying on metamorphic juvenile Gliding Leaf Frogs (Agalychnis spurrelli) in Costa Rica. Reptiles & Amphibians 28:96-97.

Gomez-Mestre, I. & K.M. Warkentin. 2007. To hatch and hatch not: similar selective trade-offs but different responses to egg predators in two closely related, syntopic treefrogs. Oecologia 153:197-206.

Gray, A.R. & A.R. Gray. 1997. Observations on the biology of Agalychnis spurrelli from the caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica. Herptile 22:61-71.

Griesbaum, F., T. Lindner, S. Bock, M. Ernst, K. Neira-Salamea, V. Moreira, S. Erazo, J. Penner & M.O. Rödel. 2023. Nine predation events by snakes from the Chocó rainforest of Ecuador. Herpetology Notes 16:749-756.

Güell, B. A., J.G. McDaniel & K.M. Warkentin. 2024. Egg-clutch biomechanics affect escape-hatching behavior and performance. Integrative Organismal Biology 6:obae006.

Güell, B. A. & K.M. Warkentin. 2023. To hatch and hatch not: does heterochrony in onset of vestibular mechanosensing explain species differences in escape-hatching success of Agalychnis embryos in snake attacks? Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 77:141.

Güell, B., K. González & F. Pedroso-Santos. 2019. Opportunistic predation by two aquatic-feeding predators on an explosive-breeding aggregation of arboreal gliding treefrogs (Agalychnis spurrelli Boulenger, 1913; Anura Phyllomedusidae) on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica. Herpetology Notes 12:795-798.

Leenders, T. 2016. Amphibians of Costa Rica: a Field Guide. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA.

Leenders, T. 2019. Reptiles of Costa Rica: a Field Guide. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA.

Ortega-Andrade, H. M. 2008. Agalychnis spurrelli Boulenger (Anura: Hylidae): variación, distribución y sinonimia. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 48:103-117.

Savage, J.M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: a Herpetofauna Between Two continents, Between Two Seas. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA.

Sosa-Bartuano, A. & E. Toribio. 2023. On the diet of Pliocercus euryzonus Cope 1862 (Squamata: Dipsadidae). The Captive & Field Herpetology Journal 6:26-28.

Vargas, F., & P.D.A Gutiérrez. 2005. Cambios morfológicos y mortalidad en embriones y renacuajos de Agalychnis spurrelli Boulenger (Anura: Hylidae). Actualidades Biológicas 27:189-202.

Vargas Salinas, F., M. Bolaños-L & H. Berrio-Baca. 2000. Notas sobre la ecología reproductiva de Agalychnis spurrelli (Anura Hylidae) en una población de Anchicayá, Pacifico colombiano. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales 24:85-100.

Vriesendorp C. & J.M. Robertson. 2007. Urotheca (Pliocercus) euryzonus (Halloween Snake): Diet. Herpetological Review 38:470-471.

Wallach, V., K. Williams & J. Boundy. 2014. Snakes of the World. A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. CRC Press, Florida, USA.