ALARM RESPONSES TO CHEMICAL STIMULI FROM DAMAGED CONSPECIFICS BY LARVAL ANURANS - TESTS OF 3 NEOTROPICAL SPECIES

Larvae of several species of anurans have been shown to exhibit fright responses to chemical stimuli from injured conspecifics, but the pres ence of this chemical alarm system is not ubiquitous for the order. We tested three species of Neotropical tadpoles (Bufo marinus, Rana brow norum, and Smilisca cyanosticta) for an alarm response to extracts fro m injured conspecifics. Tadpoles of Bufo marinus decreases their activ ity in response to extracts from conspecifics but not to extracts from heterospecifics or to a blank control. Neither of the other species s howed any differences in their responses to the three stimuli (conspec ific extract versus heterospecific extract versus blank). To date, onl y a few species representing five families of anurans have been tested for responses to alarm pheromones. Tests of a greater diversity of sp ecies may provide important insights into the evolution of alarm phero mones for anurans.