Life stage dependent predator-prey reversal between a frog (Litoria aurea) and a dragonfly (Anax papuensis)

There are many documented instances of “predator–prey reversal,” which is a biological interaction where an organism that is typically thought of as prey in a pairwise predator–prey interaction instead acts as the predator at a different age or life stage (Barkai & Mcquaid, 1988), such as when adults of a prey species opportunistically prey on their predator’s young. Intraguild predation occurs in competing predator species which kill each other’s juveniles to remove competition (Palomares & Caro, 1999). Similarly, adults of the cyprinid fish, the common bleak (Alburnus alburnus), are typically prey for the asp (Leuciscus aspius) but also feed on the asp’s eggs (Smejkal et al., 2017). An exceptional example occurs in the Epomis spp. beetle larvae, where beetle larvae are typical prey for frogs (Wizen & Gasith, 2011). However, this species has evolved a predator reversal tactic where it coaxes the frog into eating it, and once eaten, it consumes the frog from the inside out (Wizen & Gasith, 2011). Identifying predator–prey reversal could be important for more accurate predictions of trophic cascades, population dynamics, and species distributions (Li et al., 2022; Sanchez-Garduño et al., 2014).