Ciirreni lleipcioloiiy 20(2): 97-103, December 2001 

 ") 2001 liy 1 liL- I k-i |ii.'l()loL'i(.-;il Society of Japan 



Diet Composition of the Indian Rice I roj^, Rcuia 

 limnocharis, in Rice Fields ol" Central Japan 



Tosiii\Ki IIIRAI AND Masah'MI MATSUr 



Ltiailiiulc Sc/ioo/ (jj lluiiiuii niul I nviroiiDiciilul Siiulws, Kyulu Ufiivcrsily, Sakyu, 



Kvnin 606-8501. JAPAN 



Ahslnul: /iana lininocharis Iroin rice tiekls ol Nara. central Japan, led on 

 a wide \ariel> ot |)re> animals. Arlhropods consliliiled '>4.8"" in immhir 

 and 52.'>"i] in Nolnnie ol lolal pre\ items. Amoim |)re> la\a, ants (26.9" u) 

 comprised the lar^esl pr()|)<)rli<>n in tinnd)er, and earthworms (.V>.2"'ii) in 

 \oliinie. One Iro^lel and one tadpole were also recoNered Irom Iroy 

 slomaclis. I he ^enerali/ed lood hahits ol /<". li/n/iocharis would ensure the 

 eslalilishmeul ol populations ol this species outside its natural ranye. 



Key woilIs: Ra/iii liiiinochan.s; l ood habiis; liiscctisorc; .Artilicial introduc- 

 tion; C'ok)iii/atioii 



l\ I RODl ( I ION 



Ri/ru/ liDinochuns is mic o\ ilic nmsi 

 lMo;uli\ ilisi I ibiii;.-!.! species ol \siail 

 .iiuii.Mis. laiiL'mg hum I-'ast Asia iIiioul'Ii 

 Smithcasl A.sia to liulia iMacda aiul 

 Malsui, l^y^)). In lapaii, ihis species is 

 clisiiihiiled 111 llieccniial K\ukyus, Kyuslui, 

 SlHki)ku, and ail area tiom the Chugokii 

 Disincl lo ilie lokai Disiiici ol" Hinislui 

 (Maeda and Matsiii. 1999). Othei than one 

 exotic species. R. catesbeianu. R. linino- 

 charis is the only aniphihian sjiecies distrih- 

 iited in hoili the Ryukyii Arcliipclago and 

 I he niaiiiisiaiuls of .lapan. 



Riiriii ItmiHKharis is considered to luive 

 been arlilicially introduced into \arioiis 

 parts ot tile Kanto District during the last 



* ( oiicspondmi; auttioi. Id • SI ''^ 

 6846; Fax: +81-75-753-6846. 



E-mail address: fumi((l;/oo.^c»ol.k>o(o- 

 u. ac.jp (M. Malsui) 



decade (Osawa, 199S: Haseuawa and 

 Oeano, 199S; llayaslu el al.. :(HH): see 

 lia\aslii aiul Kiiiuira |2()0I1 for review). 

 I he introduced A', liiiinocharis may have 

 an iinlawirahle inrkieiice on indigenous 

 aiiiiiaii poinihitions of each locality. How- 

 c\ei , /\. Itiniiocluiris from .lapan has never 

 been studied from a viewpoint of conunu- 

 niiy ecology: currently available informa- 

 tion relevant to the natural history of this 

 frog only concerns its embryonic tempera- 

 ture tolerances (Kuramolo. 1967), growth 

 (Shichi et al.. I9SS). and vocah/alions 

 (Hata and Nagoshi. 1995). The paucity of 

 studies concerning ecological relationships 

 of coexisting anuran species makes it diffi- 

 cult for irs lo predict the effects of intro- 

 duced R. iimnocharis on the native anuran 

 populations. 



l ood is an important niche axis for parti- 

 tioning coexisting anuraiu (Tofl. 1985). 

 and food iii O 

 has been r, d 



