#chinese frogs and toads

Golden Tree Frog, Common Tree Frog, Four-lined Tree Frog, or Striped Tree Frog (Polypedates leucomystax, Rhacophoridae)

Polypedates leucomystax is widely distributed throughout South and Southeast Asia, hence it’s variety of common names. It thrives in both wetlands and forests. In urban settings, P. leucomystax can be found in garden ponds, on buildings, and on roads.

Breeding is year-round in some parts of the range but in drier areas, breeding is restricted to the start of the wet season. Males congregate at still or slow-moving water, or puddles, and call from the edges or elevated positions on vegetation. The call has been described as a “widely spaced nasal quack, and occasionally a low throaty chuckle”. Females deposit from 100-400 eggs in oval-shaped foam nests. The foam nests measure about 10 cm in length and are constructed on vegetation above ephemeral pools, or attached to a surface by the water’s edge. Hatching takes place after three to four days, occurring at the external gill stage. At this point the larvae wriggle free of the foam nest and drop into the water below. The larvae are opportunistic predators, attacking and consuming nearly anything they can, including both live and dead conspecific tadpoles and decaying vegetation. From hatching to metamorphosis takes approximately seven weeks.

bySinobug (itchydogimages) on Flickr.
Pu'er, Yunnan, China

See other posts in this CHINESE FROGS and TOADSseriesHERE.

See more images from China on my Flickr site HERE…..