01852nas a2200229   4500008004100000022001300041245008500054210006900139260005300208300001400261490000700275520119500282653001501477653001201492653001201504653001201516653001001528653001101538653001101549100002401560856003801584       1981                        eng d  a0022151100aFeeding Ecology of Panamanian Litter Anurans: Patterns in Diet and Foraging Mode0 aFeeding Ecology of Panamanian Litter Anurans Patterns in Diet an  bSociety for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles  a139–1440 v153 aLitter frogs at two rainforest locations in Panamá elect prey in a pattern similar to that found for litter frogs in lowland Perú (Toft, 1980) despite differences in the frog fauna between Panamá and Perú. Species of litter frogs form a continuum from species that specialize on ants and mites, through generalists, to species that avoid ants and mites. Modes of foraging and predator defense and taxa of litter frogs are correlated with position along the continuum. Atelopus and Bufo (Bufonidae) and Dendrobates (Dendrobatidae) are poisonous, searching foragers which eat many small prey, primarily ants and mites, per day. Colostethus (Dendrobatidae) eat ants, but to a lesser degree, and have a more sedentary foraging behavior than Dendrobates. Eleutherodactylus (Leptodactylidae) are cryptic, sit-and-wait foragers which eat few large prey per day, with the exception of E. vocator, which eat ants in proportion similar to Colostethus. Evidence within the Dendrobatidae suggests that specialization on ants is derived from a generalized mode of foraging. Ecological correlates of foraging mode in litter anurans are summarized and are generally similar to those in desert lizards.10aamphibians10aanurans10aecology10afeeding10afrogs10alitter10apanama1 aToft, Catherine, A.  uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1563372