Is there any way to identify the sex of a Australian green tree frog (without some kind of lab testing etc)? I have numerous frogs (25+) that are 'regulars' at my house, and would love to know more about being able to identify individuals more easily - some are very easy, such as the one that yells when ever you look at it, or any with particular spot patterns, but i'd love to have a better idea about specific individuals. Thank you!!
Unfortunately I know very little about sexing frogs. I know that male frogs develop nuptual pads during the breeding season and there are probably some other physical differences but they are usually subtle.
Can anybody with more White’s tree frog experience chime in? @stickyfrogs is the first blog to come to mind.
PS I am super jealous that you have wild White’s tree frogs hanging around your house.
In case anyone was curious, Denver Zoo is literally hosting a Pride event this year called โTrue Colors Safariโ:
โCelebrate Your YOUness with an adventure-packed evening at Denver Zoo! Whether itโs in the animal kingdom or your own community, we all thrive when our unique selves come together in beautiful harmony. After all, weโre each perfect exactly the way we are. So come join this celebration where birds of every feather can flock together and show off their true colors in wild and amazing ways. Explore a festive world of music, entertainment, food and drinks, community conversations and fascinating animal experiences all highlighting the LGBTQIA+ community and organizations.โ
So yeah. These homophobes are REALLY barking up the wrong tree.ย
Earlier today, with all my weight on one foot, I thought I stepped on a tightly balled up sock but it turned out to be a frog. He was okay though. No broken legs or visible injury, and hopped normally when I nudged him. It was the arch of my heel so thank gawrsh for that. Thought I should let you know about the stronge boy, he's gunna go far kid.
I’m so glad the situation didn’t end tragically for you or the frog! Congratulations on your discovery of such a strong boy.
Sometimes it makes me sad that most of the world thinks a frog is
just a stereotypical green, bullfrog-shaped animal when really there are
frogs in every shade of the rainbow with a whole orchestra of different
calls.
There are frogs that glide between trees, frogs that
can survive being frozen solid, frogs that throw themselves down cliffs
to escape predators, frogs that carry eggs inside the skin of their own
back, frogs that break their own bones to stab their predators, venomous frogs, frogs that make their own sunscreen…
And
unfortunately due to chytrid and pollution soon those plain,
stereotypical, green bullfrogs may be all that is left. What a world we
are losing.
Variety of morphs of Oophaga pumilio from Bocas del Toro, Panama
Commonly referred to as Strawberry Poison Frog, Red-and-blue Poison Frog, Flaming Poison Frog, Strawberry Poison-dart Frog, and Flaming Poison-arrow Frog, Oophaga pumilio (Dendrobatidae) vary greatly in coloration, and are known as being one of the most polymorphic, aposematic species.
Though typically strawberry red, the dorsal coloration can vary in color from red to blue, yellow, white, green, black or orange. The dorsal surface may also feature dark spots or mottling. Legs are typically darker and have some degree of blackish mottling. Their aposematic coloration (warning) has convergently evolved between some separate populations.
hello!! i will introduce you to some light blue friends! all these frog are also cute!!
like pink, blue is not a popular colour of frog for in the wild, but poison dart frog always fashionable!
Dyeing Dart Frog (Dendrobates tinctorius) has most blue colour of all the poison darts.
blue poison dart frog (Dendrobates tinctorius “azureus”)sometimes come in light blue. dark blue is favourite of he tho
but sometimes he go very light
(Dendrobates Tinctorius Citronella “Hell-blau”)
Green and Black poison dart frog also have blue form (Dendrobates auratus)
strawberry poison dart frog (Oophaga pumilio)
more of he
Harlequin poison frog (oophaga histrionicus)
ruby poison dart frog (Ameerega parvula)pretend to be dead (is faking!) and show his most beautiful belly
outside of poison dart frogs blue is not popular. However, there are still sometimes a blue friend.
amazon milk frog is beautioful
also have a blue mouth!!!!
Moor Frog (Rana arvalis) is most of the time brown, but will turn himself blue for 3 or 4 days a year to make himself the Most Beautiful
so many beautoful boys.
then sometimes a frog who is normally green will be born blue because they not have a yellow pigment. Mediterranean tree frog here has a blue friend (Hyla meridionalis)
see how bright he be
you see this green tree frog have some green spot still (Litoria caerulea)
Uluguru forest tree frog you know because he very helpful in a meme! but he normally green too
more of he beauty
(Leptopelis Uluguruensis)
other beautiful tree frog that have a blue
pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla)
blue like sky
red eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas)
whites tree frog
( Litoria caerulea )
see him with he green friend
and green tree frog! (Litoria caerulea)
thank you for ask about beautiful blue frog goodbye!!
Central newt larvae (probably very close to metamorphosis).
We had to come back to the same puddle multiple times over several days to finally catch it because it kept giving us the slip. Don’t worry, this little friend was immediately returned to the water, the gloves were very wet, and at this stage of development a short period out of water is not harmful.
a lot of pieces of media will show characters catching fireflies with just their bare hands. in some cases they will just land on the persons fingers. to gently be placed inside of a jar..
for people who live in areas who don’t have fireflies, i want you to know that is not made up or exaggerated for those scenes. fireflies are really like that. they are slow and not cautious at all. while camping i would just walk up to one flying in the air and grab it. and it would sit on my hands like “oh ok.” they are my friends.
Thought people might appreciate this video I got of a firefly that landed on my momโs ring and sat there flashing for about a good minute or two. They really are just like that
What surprises me always is not that they are real but how shockingly bright they are. That's a whole ass LED. How does he power it? What a beautiful boy
Moving from Brooklyn to a woody area within The Hamptons in the early 90s meant being exposed to Very Starry Skies and especially fireflies. They really did land on me, blinking or just shining brighter. They tickled. It really was incredibly easy to imagine cryptids in my backyard.
For those curious about how fireflies work: this artlcle's pretty good. (Tl:dr; the light comes from a controlled reaction of enzymes with oxygen, mostly. The boys fly around flash-signalling "I GOT SEX HERE!" and the girls, down in the grass, flash back "BRING SOME OF THAT DOWN HERE!" And then (ideally) sex happens. (We have to assume that fireflies who run into people along the way later remark with mild annoyance about how awful the traffic was tonght.)
Unfortunately we don't have them in Ireland. It's a pity. I miss them sometimes.
They also have FREAKY looking babies, so if you ever find one please leave it be!!
I rescued this one from my small pond, and despite living with fireflies in my life for almost 40 years, I had never seen one and had no idea what it was. Thankfully, I am generally kind to bugs and don't smush first and ask questions later, but in case you aren't, this one is perfectly harmless and turns into a slow, beautiful, gentle creature of the night.
I think part of the reason they are Like That is that most of the species that light up so brightly (not all of them do) are also toxic because of the same chemicals used for the light reaction. They can afford to be chill when they know most predators don’t want to eat them.
Another fun fact: You can sometimes find fireflies in just-right marshy habitat even in states where you wouldn’t expect to find them. For example, we have them in Colorado if you know when/where to look (and I’m not talking a handful of fireflies, I mean the whole night is lit up) and I lived here for over a decade before learning that information.
