of all frogs studied and the dengue seasons coincide, leading to maximum interaction. The control of mosquitoes by tadpoles probably extends beyond egg predation (competition for food and other resources) (3,4).. Hence, it cannot be conclusively stated that egg predation is totally responsible for the reduced number of mosquito larvae in pools with tadpoles. However, our study suggests that mosquito egg predation could be a major contributor of reduction of the density of mosquitoes. With more than 7,000 species of frogs in the worldthe role of mosquito egg destruction by tadpoles could be significant. The ecological services tadpoles provide should be evaluated when management of water bodies for mosquito borne disease prevention is assessed. If this is done effectively both dengue prevention and conserving declining amphibian populations can be done effectively. This will require the networking of disease managers, epidemiologists, conservation biologists and herpetologists. Acknowledgements We acknowledge the Department of Wildlife Conservation of Sri Lanka for research permits to study tadpoles, and the Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, for resources. We are grateful to the Amphibian Specialist Group (IUCN SSC ASG), Rohan Pethiyagoda, Kelum Manamendra-Arachchi, Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC), Don Church, James Lewis and Robin Moore for supporting this work. References 1. 2. Fig. 9: Gayan Bowatte, monitoring water quality. Photo: Madhava Meegaskumbura.
3. 4.
G. Bowatte, P. Perera, G. Senevirathne, S. Meegaskumbura, M. Meegaskumbura, Biol. Cont. 67(3), 469 (2013).
T. C. Weeraratne, M. D. B. Perera, M. Mansoor, S. H. P. P. Karunaratne, Int. J. Trop. Insect Sci. 9, 1 (2013). A. Mokany, R. Shine, Austral Ecol. 28, 33 (2003). A. Mokany, R. Shine, Oecologia, 135, 615 (2003).
Fig. 11: Madhava Meegaskumbura, examining a rare frog. Photo: Sudath Nanayakkara. Fig. 10: Gayani Senevirathne, sorting and counting mosquito eggs. Photo: Madhava Meegaskumbura.
60 | FrogLog 22 (1), Number 109 (January 2014)