Effect of body size on intraguild predation between tadpoles of bamboo-breeding poison frogs and predaceous mosquito larvae

Abstract

Our study focused on intraguild predation (IGP) between poison frog tadpoles and predaceous mosquito larvae that use water-filled bamboo internodes as primary microhabitat. We conducted an experiment using artificial pools in southeastern Peru to test the importance of body size of interacting individuals for individual survival. We found that body size strongly affected the outcome of the trophic interaction. We documented a case of symmetric IGP in which members of two phytotelm-breeding species acted as predator or prey depending on their individual and relative body sizes. We found that tadpole relocation by the parent frog may change the relative size of interacting individuals and that priority effects alone cannot be used to predict all outcomes of this interaction. © 2009, Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.