Frog-eating Spiders in the Afrotropics: An Analysis of Published and New Cases

We analyze a selection of new and published predation cases of spiders (Araneae: Ctenidae and  Pisauridae)  on  Afrotropical  anuran  amphibians  (Amphibia:  Anura),  including (re-)identifications  of the  predators  and  preys  involved.  Reported  cases  occurred  in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the  Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Various spider species of the pisaurid genus Nilus have been recorded to prey on Leptopelis sp. (Arthroleptidae), Schismaderma carens and Sclerophrys regularis (Bufonidae), Hyperolius fusciventris, H. marmoratus, H. nitidulus, H. phantasticus, H. spinigularis and H. sylvaticus (Hyperoliidae), Phrynobatrachus sp. (Phrynobatrachidae), Xenopus laevis (Pipidae), Tomopterna cryptotis (Pyxicephalidae) and Amnirana albolabris (Ranidae). Afrixalus vibekensis, Heterixalus tricolor, Hyperolius argus (Hyperoliidae) and Xenopus mellotropicalis (Pipidae) have been found to be prey of unidentified pisaurid spider species. Leptopelis brevirostris (Arthroleptidae) is a prey for the ctenid spider Piloctenus cf. haematostoma. Hyperolius acuticeps is the prey of an unidentified spider. The predator-prey interactions between spiders and frogs in the Afrotropics are probably much more varied, involving numerous taxa in both groups.

Auteurs: Gabriel Badjedjea Babangenge, Rudy Jocqué, Franck M. Masudi, Mark-Oliver Rödel, Marius Burger, Václav Gvoždík and Olivier S. G. Pauwels