Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T01:44:34.716Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Larger leeches attack from higher ground – size-dependent preferences for ambush sites in the Bornean terrestrial leech Haemadipsa picta

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2019

Krzysztof Miler ,
Aleksandra Gurgul ,
Maja Peryga  and
Marcin Czarnoleski Open the ORCID record for Marcin Czarnoleski [Opens in a new window]
Krzysztof Miler
Affiliation:
Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, Poland
Aleksandra Gurgul
Affiliation:
Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, Poland
Maja Peryga
Affiliation:
Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, Poland
Marcin Czarnoleski*
Affiliation:
Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, Poland
*
*Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The rain forests of South-East Asia represent a biodiversity hotspot of terrestrial leeches, but we have only fragmentary and often anecdotal information on this component of tropical communities. To address the foraging tactics of terrestrial leeches, we studied the vertical distribution of Haemadipsa picta on foliage in a Bornean tropical rain forest. We investigated the links between leech body length and the above-ground height of their ambush positions under natural conditions and in a choice experiment performed under semi-natural conditions. We studied 167 leeches, which varied considerably with respect to body length (4–29 mm). On average, the leeches ambushed at lower heights under natural conditions than under experimental conditions (47.7 cm vs. 67.5 cm), though the heights of ambush positions overlapped considerably. Leeches that chose higher ambush positions under natural conditions consistently chose higher ambush positions in the experiment (Pearson r = 0.29). Under both natural and experimental conditions, leech body length was positively correlated with the height of ambush positions (Pearson r = 0.48); on average, a 1-mm increase in body length corresponded to a 2–3 cm higher ambush position. Our findings suggest that H. picta individuals actively choose hunting locations according to their above-ground height, shifting their ambush sites over ontogeny to higher foliage. We hypothesize that growing leeches might target different prey following ontogenetic shifts in the foraging optima, ultimately decreasing intraspecific competition.

Keywords

AmbushBorneoforagingHaemadipsa pictaintraspecific competitionleechespreferencesspatial distributiontropical rain forest
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , May 2019 , pp. 140 - 143
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature cited

Barclay, RMR (1985) Foraging behavior of the African insectivorous bat, Scotophilus leucogaster. Biotropica 17, 65–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binckley, CA and Resetarits, WJ (2005) Habitat selection determines abundance, richness and species composition of beetles in aquatic communities. Biology Letters 1, 370–374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bolnick, DI, Svanbäck, R, Fordyce, JA, Yang, LH, Davis, JM, Hulsey, DC and Forister, ML (2002) The ecology of individuals: incidence and implications of individual specialization. American Naturalist 161, 1–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Borda, E, Oceguera-Figueroa, A and Siddall, ME (2008) On the classification, evolution and biogeography of terrestrial haemadipsoid leeches (Hirudinida: Arhynchobdellida: Hirudiniformes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46, 142–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borda, E and Siddall, ME (2010) Insights into the evolutionary origins of Indo-Pacific bloodfeeding terrestrial leeches (Hirudinida: Arhynchobdellida: Haemadipsidae). Invertebrate Systematics 24, 456–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Bitetti, MS, Di Blanco, YE, Pereira, JA, Paviolo, A and Pirez, IJ (2009) Time partitioning favors the coexistence of sympatric crab-eating foxes (Cerdocyon thous) and pampas foxes (Lycalopex gymnocerus). Journal of Mammalogy 90, 479–490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downes, S and Bauwens, D (2002) An experimental demonstration of direct behavioural interference in two Mediterranean lacertid lizard species. Animal Behaviour 63, 1038–1046.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, JM (2008) Population size, weight distribution and food in a persistent population of the rare medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis. Freshwater Biology 53, 1502–1512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fogden, SCL and Proctor, J (1985) Notes on the feeding of land leeches (Haemadipsa zeylanica Moore and H. picta Moore) in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. Biotropica 17, 172–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fu, SJ, Zeng, LQ, Li, XM, Pang, X, Cao, ZD, Peng, JL and Wang, YX (2009) The behavioural, digestive and metabolic characteristics of fishes with different foraging strategies. Journal of Experimental Biology 212, 2296–2302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gąsiorek, P and Różycka, H (2017) Feeding strategies and competition between terrestrial Haemadipsa leeches (Euhirudinea: Arhynchobdellida) in Danum Valley rainforest (Borneo, Sabah). Folia Parasitologica 64, 031.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendall, A (2012) The Effect of Rainforest Modification on Two Species of South-East Asian Terrestrial Leeches, Haemadipsa zeylanica and Haemadipsa picta. MSc Thesis. London: Imperial College, 29 pp.Google Scholar
Kohda, M, Shibata, J-Y, Awata, S, Gomagano, D, Takeyama, T, Hori, M and Heg, D (2008) Niche differentiation depends on body size in a cichlid fish, a model system of a community structured according to size regularities. Journal of Ecology 77, 859–868.Google Scholar
Lent, CM, Fliegner, KH, Freedman, E and Dickinson, MH (1988) Ingestive behaviour and physiology of the medicinal leech. Journal of Experimental Biology 137, 513–527.Google ScholarPubMed
Lourdais, O, Gartner, GEA and Brischoux, F (2014) Ambush or active life: foraging mode influences haematocrit levels in snakes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 111, 636–645.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, AJ, Seaby, RMH and Young, JO (1994) Does body size difference in the leech Glossiphonia complanata (L.) and Helobdella stagnalis (L.) contribute to co-existence? Hydrobiologia 273, 67–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miler, K, Yahya, BE and Czarnoleski, M (2017) Different predation efficiencies of trap-building larvae of sympatric antlions and wormlions from the rainforest of Borneo. Ecological Entomology 43, 255–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morse, DH (2000) Flower choice by naïve crab spiders and the effect of subsequent experience. Animal Behaviour 59, 943–951.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quinn, GP and Keough, MJ (2002) Experimental Design and Data Analysis for Biologists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 556 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoener, TW (1967) The ecological significance of sexual dimorphism in size in the lizard Anolis conspersus. Science 155, 474–477.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shine, R and Sun, L-X (2002) Arboreal ambush site selection by pit-vipers Gloydius shedaoensis. Animal Behaviour 63, 565–576.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smythies, BE (1959) Leeches of Borneo. Sarawak Museum Journal 13, 279–294.Google Scholar
Tessler, M, Barrio, A, Borda, E, Rood-Goldman, R, Hill, M and Siddall, ME (2016) Description of a soft-bodied invertebrate with microcomputed tomography and revision of the genus Chtonobdella (Hirudinea: Haemadipsidae). Zoologica Scripta 45, 552–565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tessler, M, Weiskopf, SR, Berniker, L, Hersch, R, McCarthy, KP, Yu, DW and Siddall, ME (2018) Bloodlines: mammals, leeches, and conservation in southern Asia. Systematics and Biodiversity 16, 488–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walde, SJ and Davies, RW (1984) The effect of intraspecific interference on Kogotus nonus (Placoptera) foraging behaviour. Canadian Journal of Zoology 62, 2221–2226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiskopf, SR, McCarthy, KP, Tessler, M, Rahman, HA, McCarthy, JL, Hersch, R, Faisal, MM and Siddall, ME (2018) Using terrestrial haematophagous leeches to enhance tropical biodiversity monitoring programmes in Bangladesh. Journal of Applied Ecology 55, 2071–2081.CrossRefGoogle Scholar