Trophic ecology of Pithecopus hypochondrialis (Daudin, 1800) (Phyllomedusidae) in Eastern Brazilian Amazonia

This study evaluates the contribution of different types of prey to the diet of Pithecopus hypochondrialis in two urban fragments of Amazonian forest. Specimens were collected weekly between August 2010, and May 2011, at the Gunma Ecological Park and the privately owned Fazenda Sote in the municipality of Santa Barbara, in the Brazilian state of Para. A total of 15 types of items were identified through direct observations and the analysis of the stomach contents of 175 Pithecopus hypochondrialis (130 males, 42 females and three juveniles). Hemipterans were the most frequent item for both sexes (IAi% = 58.61%), followed by Araneae (25.81%), which together corresponded to more than 80% of the diet of Pithecopus hypochondrialis. Males tended to consume more spiders than females, whereas females ingested much more plant material. Whereas males consumed both these items throughout the year, females fed on spiders almost exclusively during the dry season and fed on plant material primarily during the rainy season. The diet of males did not vary along seasonal periods, while that of females varied.