In highly ephemeral freshwater habitats, predatory vertebrates are typically unable to become established, leaving an open niche often filled by macroinvertebrate predators. However, these predators are faced with the challenge of finding sufficient food sources as the rapid rate of desiccation prevents the establishment of extended food chains and limits the number of prey species present. It could therefore be advantageous for predators to synchronize their phenology with that of their prey within sites of extreme ephemerality. We report the first case of adult diving beetles (Hydaticus parallelus) ovipositing their eggs within spawn of an amphibian species (sandpaper frog, Lechriodus fletcheri). This behavior was found among several pools used by L. fletcheri for reproduction. Beetle eggs oviposited in frog spawn were found to hatch within 24 h of the surrounding L. fletcheri eggs, with the larvae becoming voracious consumers of the hatched tadpoles. Although it has yet to be established experimentally whether this is an adaptive behavior, the laying of eggs among potential future tadpole prey in this instance should confer significant fitness benefits for the offspring upon hatching, ensuring that they are provided an immediate source of food at the start of their development and potentially throughout. This oviposition behavior might be common among diving beetles and could form a significant predatory threat for amphibians with a free‐swimming larval stage in ephemeral freshwater habitats.

中文翻译：

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在两栖动物中产卵的潜水甲虫后代在孵化时在蝌蚪上产卵

在高度短暂的淡水栖息地中，掠食性脊椎动物通常无法建立，留下一个开放的生态位，通常由大型无脊椎动物捕食者填充。然而，这些捕食者面临着寻找足够食物来源的挑战，因为干燥的快速速度阻止了扩展食物链的建立并限制了存在的猎物物种的数量。因此，在极端短暂的地点内，捕食者将它们的物候与猎物的物候同步可能是有利的。我们报告了第一例成年潜水甲虫（Hydaticus parallelus）在两栖动物（砂纸蛙，Lechriodus fletcheri）的产卵内产卵。这种行为是在 L. fletcheri 用于繁殖的几个池中发现的。发现在青蛙产卵中产卵的甲虫卵在周围 L. fletcheri 卵的 24 小时内孵化，幼虫成为孵化的蝌蚪的贪婪消费者。尽管尚未通过实验确定这是否是一种适应性行为，但在这种情况下，在潜在的未来蝌蚪猎物之间产卵应该会在孵化时为后代带来显着的健康益处，确保它们在孵化时获得直接的食物来源。他们发展的开始，并可能贯穿始终。这种产卵行为可能在潜水甲虫中很常见，并且可能对在短暂的淡水栖息地中自由游动的幼虫阶段的两栖动物构成重大的捕食威胁。尽管尚未通过实验确定这是否是一种适应性行为，但在这种情况下，在潜在的未来蝌蚪猎物之间产卵应该在孵化时为后代带来显着的健康益处，确保它们在孵化时获得直接的食物来源。他们发展的开始，并可能贯穿始终。这种产卵行为可能在潜水甲虫中很常见，并且可能对在短暂的淡水栖息地中自由游动的幼虫阶段的两栖动物构成重大的捕食威胁。尽管尚未通过实验确定这是否是一种适应性行为，但在这种情况下，在潜在的未来蝌蚪猎物之间产卵应该会在孵化时为后代带来显着的健康益处，确保它们在孵化时获得直接的食物来源。他们发展的开始，并可能贯穿始终。这种产卵行为可能在潜水甲虫中很常见，并且可能对在短暂的淡水栖息地中自由游动的幼虫阶段的两栖动物构成重大的捕食威胁。确保它们在发育开始时和可能在整个发育过程中都能获得直接的食物来源。这种产卵行为可能在潜水甲虫中很常见，并且可能对在短暂的淡水栖息地中自由游动的幼虫阶段的两栖动物构成重大的捕食威胁。确保它们在发育开始时和可能在整个发育过程中都能获得直接的食物来源。这种产卵行为可能在潜水甲虫中很常见，并且可能对在短暂的淡水栖息地中自由游动的幼虫阶段的两栖动物构成重大的捕食威胁。