Snakes have been frequently reported as prey of others snakes (Ditmars, 1912; Amaral, 1933; Beebe, 1946; Abuys, 1981; Greene, 1983; Vanzolini et al., 1984). Information on predation events between snake species are important to elucidate the trophic networks of ecosystems. The Degenhardt’s Scorpion-eating Snake (Stenorrhina degenhardtii Berthold, 1846) is an important predator of invertebrates such as scorpions and tarantulas, as well as other spiders, crickets, grasshoppers and insect larvae (Savage, 2002). It has diurnal and semifossorial habits (Savage, 2002), often living near streams (Navarrete et al., 2005). On the other hand, the Black-headed False Coral Snake (Erythrolamprus bizonus Jan, 1863) is a snake with ophiofagus habits, although sporadically, it feeds on lizards (Savage, 2002).

Here, I describe a predation attempt of an E. bizonus on an individual of S. degenhardtii in a forest between the municipalities of Anserma and Risaralda in the department of Caldas, Colombia (5.1551 S, -75.7219 W; WGS84; elevation 1260 m). This region is covered by fragments of secondary forest bordering small streams, and is part of the Andean Orobioma of the western flank of the central Andes (Rodriguez et al. 2004), mostly

consisting of humid low montane forest (Holdridge, 1982; Hartshorn, 2002).

Results and Discussion

On 27 June 2002, at 16:00h, during a field trip in the Risaralda municipality, I observed an individual of E. bizonus preying upon an individual of S. degenhardtii at a distance of approximately 2 m. The event occurred near a small stream, where the individual of E. bizonus was trying to ingest the individual of S. degenhartii head-first (Fig. 1A, B). The individual of S. degenhartii showed a small wound on one side of the body, suggesting that it had already been bitten by the E. bizonus (Fig. 1C). The event was observed for 20 min, and during this time the individual of S. degenhartii curled its body repeatedly, until the individual of E. bizonus was disturbed by the observer, and regurgitated the individual of S. degenhardtii. The latter was dead and showed several signs of bites on the dorsum and head (Fig. 1C). The individual of E. bizonus then moved away from the area where it was first observed. After the event, the individual of S. degenhartii was collected and deposited in the collection of the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales (ICN) of Universidad Nacional de Colombia (collection code JJS 226).

Erythrolamprus bizonus has been recorded as a snake predator in several reports (Swanson, 1945; Savage, 2002), including Stenorrhina freminvillei Duméril, Bibron and Duméril, 1854 (Mata-Silva et al., 2016), a sister species of S. degenhardtii. However, its predation upon the latter species was not reported before (Lancini and Kornacker, 1986). Both snakes are reported to be diurnal (Savage, 2002) but E. bizonus is known to forage mainly on the leaf litter, while S. degenhardtii lives within the leaf litter (i.e. has cryptozoic habits), where it forages for invertebrates. Even though E. bizonus is

Herpetology Notes, volume 12: 331-333 (2019) (published online on 23 March 2019)

Predation attempt on the Degenhardt’s Scorpion-eating Snake Stenorrhina degenhardtii (Berthold, 1846) (Serpentes:

Colubridae) by the False Coral Snake Erythrolamprus bizonus (Jan, 1863) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) in Caldas, Colombia

Juan C. Díaz-Ricaurte1,2,*

1 Laboratório de Ecologia, Evolução e Conservação de Anfíbios e Répteis, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil.

2 Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Desarrollo Amazónico, Programa de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad de la Amazonía, Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia.

* Corresponding author. E-mail: juan.diaz@usp.br

Juan C. Díaz-Ricaurte332

considered to be one of the few species that ingest their prey tail-first (Greene, 1997; Savage, 2002), herein I observed a head-first ingestion, and the implications could be attributed to self-defence mechanisms. To the current knowledge, this is the first report for this species. The death of the individual of S. degenhartii was probably caused by its envenomation by the individual of E. bizonus (e.g., see Prado-Franceschi and Hyslop, 2002; Lemoine and Rodríguez-Acosta, 2003).

Acknowledgments. I thank Dr. John D. Lynch for identifying both snakes. Filipe Serrano, João Paulo V. Alencar and Marcio Martins for useful suggestions on previous drafts of the manuscript. Finally, I thank Juan Pablo Lopez-Ordoñez and Jhon Ospina-Sarria for the photos included in this manuscript.

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Figure 1. Predation attempt of Stenorrhina degenhardtii by Erythrolamprus bizonus observed in a forest between the municipalities of Anserma and Risaralda in the department of Caldas, Colombia. A) The individual of E. bizonus trying to eat the individual of S. degenhardtii, ingesting it head-first. B) A close-up view of the predation attempt. C) Another view of the predation attempt, showing a wound on the dorsum of the individual of S. degenhardtii. D) The dead individual of S. degenhardtii after the attempted predation by E. bizonus. Photos: Juan Pablo Lopez-Ordoñez

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Predation attempt on Stenorrhina degenhardtii by Erythrolamprus bizonus 333

Accepted by Andre Bruinjé