BEHAVIORAL AND LIFE-HISTORICAL RESPONSES OF LARVAL AMERICAN TOADS TO AN ODONATE PREDATOR

Examines the responses of larval Bufo americanus to the non-lethal presence of an odonate predator (Anax junius). Tadpoles facultatively responded by metamorphosing at smaller sizes in the presence of the predator and at lower food rations. Tadpoles also responded behaviorally to the presence of predators by reducing activity and altering spatial distribution. These latter reactions appeared to contribute to reduced growth rates in the presence of the predator at a given food level. The metamorphic response may be mediated primarily through the behavioral effects on growth, which then affect size at metamorphosis. -from Authors