The Invertebrate Prey of the Northern Leopard Frog, Rana pipiens, in a Northeastern Ohio Population
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Date
1998-06
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Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was to determine the feeding habits of the northern leopard frog, Rana pipiens, in northeastern Ohio. To accomplish this we examined the stomach contents of 13 adults and 19 juveniles collected from a restored wetland in Summit County, Ohio during the summers of 1996 and 1997. The adult and juvenile frogs ingested 142 invertebrates representing 2 phyla, 3 classes, 12 orders, and 34 families. Adult and juvenile frogs consumed both diurnal and nocturnal prey belonging primarily to the insect orders Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Hymenoptera. Although juvenile frogs consumed more individual prey items than adults (t = 2.196, p <0.05), neither age cohort specialized on active or inactive prey (X2 = 3.84, p <0.05)- Approximately 67% of all prey consumed consisted of fossorial or crawling organisms. Our data suggest that R. pipiens is an efficient predator that maximizes prey diversity by employing more than one feeding strategy.
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Author Institution: Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University
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Citation
The Ohio Journal of Science. v98, n3 (June, 1998), 39-41