FOOD ANALYSIS OF SOMER,4N,4SPECIESIN THE HABITAT OF
CARSKA BARA {Yt])
E. Pooovic.S. Simic and B. Tall6si
Popovic, 8., Simic, S. and Ta 6si, B. (1992):Foo!1analysisof sotne Rana qecies it the habitat
o! CaNkaBaru (w). - TISCU 26,1-i.
Abstract.The analysisof stomachcontentwasdonefor tollowingspccics:Ranakl. erc lenlaL.,
R. lessonaeC^merano andR. idibunda Pallas.Ir was found that these speciesfeed on different
groups of invertebrates (Cnlstacea,Aqchtlida, Insecta,MJiapoda, Gastrcpoda an(l Biwlia).
Ouantilativcand qualita(ivccompositionof foodshowsthat inscctsare predominant.
Kerwaftl\: Ca,tka bara tW| Ic(ditt, Ratto:,pici(
E, Popovic,S, Simic,Instituteof Biology,Univcrsityof Novi Sad,21000Nou Sad,Yugoslavia,
B. Tall6si,Institutefor PlantProtection,
FacultyolAgriculture,Novi Sad,Yugoslavia
Introduction
Methods
Frogsare sigDificanlmemborsof food websin
aqualic habitats. Ratn idibruula inhabils (he
wholc lcrrilory of thc formor Yugoslavian
co ntries, while speciesR, kl eEulenta a R,
lessotneate characteristic
only for northernparts
of rhe Balkan. peninsula,(Radovanovic.19511
Engclmanrcl al. lt85). Thcy livc in all typcsJi
aquatic habitats (ponds, lakes, fish ponds,
backwatcrs,rivers), or in their vicinity.They arc
rcprosonlalivcsol lowland spocioscxcopt of R.
ridibwda \\hi.h is quitc often found on hills and
mountainsup to 2500mallitude.They rise from
hibernationat the beginningof March and April,
and their reproductionseasonis durins the first
halt oI Apiil and May (Radovanoiic, 1951;
Etrgelmann et al, 1985). They are voracrous
spccies,active both during daylight and night.
Edible and marsh frogs hibcrnatein thc mud of
aquatichabitats;while the pool frog hibernatesin
land (Arnold and Burton, 19?8;Engelmannet al,
1985).
Concerningthe feeding of Rdnd species,tbe
formerly Yugoslavian literature conlains only
preliminary reports (Popovic and Mikes, 1989)
relatedto Koviljski meadow.Having ;n mind the
imporlancc of this problen and the insufficient
studies,wc have lried to contributefor its belt{rr
understanding.
Thc quantitativeanalysisof frogs feedi[g was
carr;odou1 in a samplc of 32 individuals(R. k
R. lessotvei1 sDccitli,cns
esculetlain spocimcns;
af,d R. itlibuhdit 2 spocimens).Althorgh the
samplcwas small,obtainedresullswere relevant
bccausc(heyrepresented
xhefirst data of this kind
nol only for Carskabara, but for whole area o[
formerlyYugoslavia.
Besidethat,all kindsofgreen
frogc are protccrcdas rare specicswirh Umiting
Accidcntil sdmplc poinls to
catch pcrmi<sion,
naturalrelationsin representation
of certaintypes,
showingboth faunaconditionsof givenhabitatand
its other ecologicalcharactedstics.They were
collcctcdin the region of Carskabara (near the
Tisza) during July, 1990 at the forest edge
doninated by flotant vegetation. Frogs !r'ere
caughtby netsand fish hooksduring the periodof
their greatcr activily, lrom 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
were determinedto the level
Collectedspecimens
of species(Engelmannet al. 1985).Sex and aee
wcro also defined. Biometrics data were also
lakcn.After dissection,
stomachcontentswere put
into test lubcs $nrai^ing10'/a alcohol.Stomach
contentdcterninationwas mado accordingto thc
classificationot Schmidt (1970) and Kerovec
TISCA 26
0e86).
7'7.5yo; Aruchnida 8a/a; Mriapoda
2.34/a;
Gastrcpoda 9,5/o anl Bivalvia 0.3%. Fron
area.dztdof Carrlolodl farlicipalionin
Carskabara presentsan inundatedareaof the anaitzed
food
is
ir
accordancewith those fron Kmin;ak
dver Tisza around the mouth of the rivcr Begej.
(1978),and Popovicand Mikcs (1989),(9.2% and
is
fish
On the right side of Carskabara, thcrc a
respectivcly).
But oppos;tcKminiak (1978),
pond surroundedby agrobiocenoses.
It is situated 10.67o,
presencein stornach
we
did
nol
record
OrSodlrdld
behind the protectior ombankment.Around it,
there is a marshy forest associalion,tdr.rloPopul?runnigtat d \wampyar$cialion ot s.i?oPltag',litetun is spreadingin front of it. Floaling
association of Nyflpla€etum albo-l teae and stJbmersed Mttiophy o-Potamet m arc predominant
alongthe shoreof the pond.This kind of areaoffers suitableconditionsfor survivaland development of he(crogcncous
fauna.
C€rtain characteristics of invesfigatedar€a
Fomqtsa
E
HesrcPt 'a c::=
Resultsand discussion
Rara speciesarc abundantand widcly sprcad
group of amphibiansin Vujlodina. That is thc
gcncrally
reason
thcyha!can ;mporlanlrolcin thc
nalurc and esoeciauvin thc DoDulativn
rcsulation
o[ othcr aninialsrhly teed6n. Performedundcr
the internationalprojcc| "Explorationol thc Rivcr
Tisza", a new study about the fccding of these
specicshasbeeninitiated.
R a n ak l . e s c u l e n l a
"d.*
nanalessonae
l),! 2. Qradri.drvc anJ ruolirar.veDrseie Jf
"oN
odc* in rhc noflachsofaluly4,l fror speos
.ns(
Althoushthe samDlcwasnot standardized
in
regardto fhc numbeiof analyzed
specimens,
it
was poscible
to recogni:/c
ccrlainrclarions
in
feeding,on tho basisof obtainedresults.Witlr
species
R. kl etculenta,
besideinsectsand their
ldrvac.rhu cla.. ol ( flacca (22.0,o, wds quitc
noliccdblc.
Thi. was nor tbe casewirh pool frog
(J.5oatFig.2.\. One .pccimcnol lhL'cdiblcfrog
ng. L n-0."*"",, *-rted lrogspccics.
had 42 individualsin its slomach content, and
thcrcforo thore is such a high pcrccnlago ol
Quantitative and qual;tativecompositionof Cntstacea in food. Then, thcrc were the
food shows that insecti are predomi;ant in the represenlatives
of the classAtucl1t1ida,
Gastropda
Iood of Rana species. Thc insccts were and Myriapod1. Only one individual of class
represented
with 171(49.1%)adultforms (Fig. 1.). Birabia \\as found in a stomach contenl.
Beside adults, insect larvae with 46 specimens Htntehoptetu('74a/o
- 35 sp.)predorninalcdamong
(13.2%) wore also found, makiag a total of 62.3a/o insects(Fig. 3.) bccauseof the large individual
food quantity, The spccics of thc lanily
numbet of Fonllicidue spctics. Coleoptera(6o,9a/aFonnicidae (H)nenopter4) were the most 31 sp.) and Diptetu (56.54/a
- 24 sp.) had also an
represented among insects. This is partly importantrole in feedingof ediblefrog, while ;1 ;s
conditionedby a selectivepreferencefor the prey not the casewit other insectgroups.Accordingto
in qu€stion.At the sametime it pointsout alsothe Krniniacrla-8) and Popovicand Milec (la8o).
specilicity of biocenotic components o[ tho Coleoptentd}.e"pdfl with 44.5o,Jnd 5,1l,o, dnd
anallzedbiotop.Othcr classes
of invertebrates
had Diptera\virh'7.64/aand 13a/a;n cdible frog food.
a following share in food contcntsi Cndlacdd
TISCL4 26
Suchdifferercesof food contentswere thc rcsult
of differencesin habitatcond;lions.
wilh spcciciR. le'etue. rhe I'ercentag€
of
food compositionwas almostthe same.T1\vasthe
aswell
cas€both in other groupsof invertebratcs,
as for somespeciesof insects(Fig.2. and 3.). The
only obviolrs dilference was in relation to the
pfesenceof crurrdceaspccies.
only 4 specimens in the stomach contents
\H)ne optra ). r,rleopkru - | and onhoptcruI)- dndrbe classG.?v,orod,wi(h one .pecimcu.
We have especiallyto underl e the data
relatingto the ilsufficientrolc of aquaticinsectsin
feedingof genusRana.
References
Arold, E. and Bunon, J..{, (1978):A Fi€ld Cuidc ro ihc
ReplilcsandAnphibians.C.lliN, lrndon
Engelnunn,w'D,, Fritzshe,J,, Cunter, R a.d Obs1,J.F,
(1e85)r Lurche und Xriechtidc lturopas. Neu'nann
Kerorec,M. (1e86) rrirucnil za uloznavanjcbcsirakjcsijaka
naih poloka i rijelta (Thc handbookof invdlcbralcs in
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rcrcson, A. (1953):kMc or Insc.!s, Pari ll., Columbus,
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RaM \/m/tiLia:,4Lut?) .' voJvod.nrfThc isu,lirg o
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Vojvodina),Naucniskupr'JosirPanici Ptircdne ndrkc ,
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I,rirtrcdikza dgrcnrc,sumalc i biologc (Dcrcanioation
rablcs for Insccts. lhc handl)ook for studcnrs ol
F . r , 3 . Q v a n r ' r r n v ca n d q u a l n " u v cD r e j c D c co i 6 o n 1 c
agrodooy,forcslry and biologf), Svcucilisrcu Zagrcbu,
rnicncbrarc classcsaid rho! lapac ii $bhfl(h. of aDal).rcd
Thc analysisof sromachcontentsof only lwo
providcduswilh insufficienl
marshfroe sDecirncns
resulrfor io;parison ivilh dald oblainedlnr othcr
two specios,the insectswere representedwith
TISCL4 26
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