Diet of Dendropsophus microcephalus and Scarthyla vigilans (Anura: Hylidae) at a locality in north-western Venezuela with notes on microhabitat occupation

19.47  ±  1.05  mm; females: 20.53  ±  2.94  mm; 

S.  vigilans, males: 15.98  ±  1.06  mm, females: 

19.69  ±  2.48  mm). Juveniles’ SVL varied from 

7 to 9.99  mm in D.  microcephalus and from 9 to 

14.99  mm in S.  vigilans. Mouth width was on av-

erage 6.51  ±  0.89  mm (min-max: 2.54-8.52) in 

D.  microcephalus and 5.46  ±  0.75  mm (min-max: 

3.12-7.32) in S. vigilans. The differences in SVL be-

tween species were not significant (Mann-Whitney U: 

Z = 1.56, p = 0.25) but those in mouth width were 

(Mann-Whitney U: Z = 4.52; p < 0.0001). There was 

weak correlation between SVL and mouth width in 

both species (Spearman: D. microcephalus, r

s

 = 0.52 

p < 0.0001; S. vigilans, r

s

 = 0.74, p < 0.00001). There 

was no relationship between mouth width and prey 

length (Spearman: r

s

 = -0.182, p > 0.05) or prey vol-

ume (r

s

 = -0.075, p > 0.05) in D. microcephalus. In 

S. vigilans there was no relationship between mouth 

width and prey length (r

s

 = 0.241, p > 0.05) but there 

was weak correlation with prey volume (r

s

  =  0.41, 

p = 0.02).

We found identifiable contents in 81 out of 

the 209 stomachs dissected (39%), 50 from D. mi-

crocephalus (48 males, 1, female, 1 juvenile) and 31 

TABLE 1:

 Composition of the diet of Dendropsophus microcephalus (N = 50) and Scarthyla vigilans (N = 31). %N = Ni/Nt; %F = Si/St. 

%V = Vi/Vt; (%) RII = (I

i

 / 

ΣI) 100; I = (%N+%F+%V)/3. RII > 9% are show in bold.

Order

Family

D. microcephalus

S. vigilans

%N

%F

%V

RII (%)

%N

%F

%V

RII (%)

Araneae

Agelenidae

9.21

14.00

14.25

11.08

2.17

3.23

0.08

1.67

Amaurobiidae

1.32

2.00

0.03

0.99

Araneidae

2.63

4.00

7.93

4.31

Ctenidae

1.32

2.00

0.39

1.10

2.17

3.23

1.26

2.03

Linyphiidae

1.32

2.00

0.23

1.05

Lycosidae

1.32

2.00

0.34

1.08

6.52

6.45

4.58

5.33

Oecobiidae

2.63

4.00

0.60

2.14

Salticidae

1.32

2.00

0.42

1.11

2.17

3.23

1.16

1.99

Tetragnathidae

5.26

6.00

1.25

3.70

Coleoptera

Larvae

3.95

6.00

12.39

6.61

Staphylinidae

2.17

3.23

0.20

1.70

Chrysomelidae

5.26

8.00

7.24

6.06

2.17

3.23

0.70

1.85

Carabidae

1.32

2.00

2.56

1.74

Dyctioptera

Blattidae

3.95

6.00

10.68

6.10

Diptera

Calliphoridae

0.00

4.35

6.45

0.42

3.41

Chiromonidae

2.63

4.00

0.84

2.21

Culicidae

1.32

2.00

0.31

1.07

Sepsidae

2.63

4.00

0.36

2.07

Tachinidae

13.16

10.00

8.36

9.32

10.87

9.68

3.09

7.19

Tipulidae

1.32

2.00

0.07

1.00

0.00

Hemiptera

Nymph

2.17

3.23

0.09

1.67

Lygaeidae

4.35

6.45

1.95

3.88

Homoptera

Cicadellidae

9.21

12.00

4.97

7.75

8.70

12.90

5.68

8.29

Cicadidae

1.32

2.00

1.62

1.46

10.87

12.90

6.12

9.09

Delphacidae

2.63

4.00

3.74

3.07

6.52

9.68

10.19

8.02

Derbidae

3.95

6.00

1.92

3.51

Membracidae

2.17

3.23

2.10

2.28

Hymenoptera

Pteromalidae

1.32

2.00

0.33

1.08

Formicidae

5.26

8.00

0.93

4.20

4.35

6.45

1.19

3.64

Lepidoptera

Tenthredinidae

1.32

2.00

0.57

1.15

Noctuidae

1.32

2.00

0.56

1.15

2.17

3.23

6.18

3.52

Larvae

6.58

10.00

10.33

7.96

6.52

9.68

6.15

6.79

Orthoptera

Acrididae

1.32

2.00

1.54

1.44

2.17

3.23

16.55

6.67

Gryllidae

2.63

4.00

3.00

2.85

13.04

12.90

20.54

14.13

Tettigonidae

1.32

2.00

2.23

1.64

2.17

3.23

1.69

2.15

Isopoda

Larvae

2.17

3.23

10.07

4.70

Nt

76

46

Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 57(7), 2017

97

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