HABITAT DISTRIBUTION AND PREDATION ON A WESTERN POPULATION OF TERRESTRIAL LEIOPELMA (ANURA, LEIOPELMATIDAE) IN THE NORTHERN KING COUNTRY, NEW-ZEALAND

A new population of terrestrial Leiopelmatid frog was discovered in th e Whareorino Forest, northern King Country, New Zealand, in 1991. Sear ches were carried out from June 1991 to December 1993 to determine the species present and to document variation in external morphology, hab itat, and local distribution. These confirmed that a terrestrial frog resembling L, archeyi is present in the area, as well as Hochstetter's frog Leiopelma hochstetteri and the introduced Australian hylid frog Litoria ia aurea. In Whareorino Forest, the terrestrial Leiopelma was mostly above 500 m altitude and L, hochstetteri above 350 m. The terre strial Leiopelma occupies sites under rocks and logs in forest. It als o occurs in vegetation, such as crown fern Blechnum discolor, tree fer n Cyathea smithii, hook grass Uncinia uncinata, and rice grass Microla ena avenacea. Egg clusters of this frog were found in crown fern and t ree fern, as well as under stones. The terrestrial Leiopelma is suscep tible to predation by Litoria aurea and rats. This is the first docume nted evidence of predation on Leiopelma on the New Zealand mainland. T he future of this small remnant Leiopelma population is uncertain, and further investigation of the impact of anuran and mammalian predators is needed.