SWCHR DISCUSSION FORUMS - Mexican treefrogs observed.. SWCHR DISCUSSION FORUMS

SWCHR DISCUSSION FORUMS

The Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research (SWCHR) now operates twenty (20) forums, nineteen of which focus on herpetological topics as they relate to the herpetofauna of the American Southwest. One (1) additional forum focuses on all aspects of the herpetofauna of Mexico.
Anyone may access and read the posts made on any of the forums locsated in SWCHR General Forums section, but YOU MUST BE A SWCHR MEMBER OR A REGISTERED USER IN ORDER TO POST OR TO REPLY TO POSTS IN THIS SECTION.
Registered Users may access and read posts made on forums located in the SWCHR Focus Groups section but YOU MUST BE A SWCHR MEMBER IN ORDER TO POST OR TO REPLY TO POSTS IN THIS SECTION.
ACCESS to the SWCHR Members Only Section IS RESTRICTED TO SWCHR MEMBERS.
Becoming a Registered User is FREE and only takes a few moments of your time to accomplish. In order to prevent our forums from becoming platforms for spammers and hackers, all registrations are reviewed and activated by our Forums Administrator. To become a Registered User just email your desired user name and password to the Forums Administrator. When your registration has been processed (normally within a couple of hours) you will receive a system generated email confirming your registration. YOU MUST PROVIDE A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS WHEN YOU REGISTER. As a Registered User you will have limited access to the SWCHR Forums.
Want to become a Full Member of SWCHR with full and unrestricted access to all of our forums and have other member benefits? Click here for membership information. Become a Full Member - Join Today!

The SWCHR Forums are best viewed utilizing a screen resolution of 1152 x 864 pixels.

Welcome, Guest. Please Login.
Sep 9^th, 2010, 8:24pm

SWCHR DISCUSSION FORUMS › SWCHR GENERAL FORUMS - GUESTS MAY VIEW THIS SECTION - POSTING REQUIRES FREE REGISTRATION OR FULL MEMBERSHIP › FIELD HERPING AND FIELD STUDIES FORUM
(Moderator: Todd Hughes/antelope) ‹ Previous topic | Next topic ›

Pages: 1

Mexican treefrogs observed.. (Read 139 times)

Rio Bravo Reptiles

Registered User

Heretic Prime

Posts: 311

Mexican treefrogs observed..
Jun 17^th, 2010, 6:49am

Howdy.
.
For the past couple of years I've taken extra care to make space for the tree frogs, Smilisca, in my yard. This has included not dumping all the rainwater and being careful around the place with yard tools and machinery. The small effort has resulted in a noticeable increase in the local presence of these pretty frogs. This is a large female recently photographed resting during the heat of the day in plain view on an old trellis near my workshop..
.

.
The eggs of the Smilisca appear on the surface of a calm volume of water after a noisy night of courtship.. an emphatic 'Eck-Eck-Eck' is their call. These frogs don't vocalize exclusively during courtship, a car horn or a loud exhaust on most any warm humid night may set them off. Their new eggs are perfectly round and perhaps 3MM in diameter, the yolk or central part is pale, almost yellow in color and comprises about 1MM of that. Large females can deposit many more and somewhat larger eggs than younger and smaller females. These eggs are buoyant and float in a single layer very loosely adhered to one another in a purely random matter. They will more aggressively stick to other objects; plants, sticks or whatever is at the surface of the water.
.
Mexican treefrog eggs develop rapidly, especially if the water temperature is over about 80DEG (F). In only a few hours the embryos visibly lose their round shape and begin to elongate and develop other features. Sunlight is an important factor. Exposed to four hours or so of sunlight the eggs will often hatch into tiny tadpoles within about 24 hours of being laid. If the water is heavily shaded the transformation may take three times as long. Sunlight also aids and accelerates the development of the tadpoles into frogs.. which may take as little as about 10 days or as much as three weeks. This next image is of a mob of tadpoles (surprisingly difficult to photograph) approximately half-way through their aquatic stage..
.

.
A large mass of developing tadpoles will consume a lot of food! They eat algae and decomposing plant matter such as the fallen leaf of the Papaya tree seen in that image.. also the roots and perhaps other parts of some aquatic plants. If there's not enough food for the youngsters I will give them flake-style fish food.. they eagerly accept it. I have yet to see any sign of cannibalism in these, even if food is scarce.

Here's some of the tiny frogs just emerging recently here...
.

.
Fascinating stuff! This little project of aiding and observing these pretty amphibians has been and continues to be a source of interest and enjoyment for everyone. Try something like this in your yard..
.
Bye!
.

"Para mi, solo recorrer los caminos que tienen corazon.."

IP Logged

suboc-1

Registered User

Posts: 173
Gender: male

Re: Mexican treefrogs observed..
Reply #1 - Jun 17^th, 2010, 3:04pm

Cool, wish I had amphibians besides the occasional toad in my backyard. We have also turned our backyard into a more herp friendly area but the all we have to show is ground skinks and med gecks. When we first moved to San Antonio it wouldn't be uncommon to find many species of snakes but due to the ever persistent urbanization I haven't even seen a ground snake in 2 years. Sad

Alex/Kevin Porteck

IP Logged

Todd Hughes/antelope Forum Moderator Full Member Herping the American Southwest Posts: 2179 Gender:	Re: Mexican treefrogs observed.. Reply #2 - Jun 17^th, 2010, 6:37pm Very cool observations Gus! I am more used to the occasional Quonk, Quonk, Quonk of the greenies around here, and have a similar area to accomodate them. Those are excellent photos, sir!!!
Back to top	Todd M. Hughes IP Logged

Rio Bravo Reptiles Registered User Heretic Prime Posts: 311	Re: Mexican treefrogs observed.. Reply #3 - Jun 24^th, 2010, 6:27pm .. check out this one day progression.. . . . . . . .. very neat stuff. �
Back to top	"Para mi, solo recorrer los caminos que tienen corazon.." IP Logged

Diego Ortiz Moderator Full Member Herping wherever Uncle Sam decides to send me. Posts: 1025 Gender:	Re: Mexican treefrogs observed.. Reply #4 - Jun 24^th, 2010, 8:16pm WOW!!!
Back to top	Diego Ortiz Secretary, Southwestern Center For Herpetological Research IP Logged

Hadrurus Registered User Posts: 110 Gender:	Re: Mexican treefrogs observed.. Reply #5 - Jun 24^th, 2010, 11:25pm Very cool post and yard. Love the egg images!!! Phil
Back to top	IP Logged

Pages: 1

SWCHR DISCUSSION FORUMS › SWCHR GENERAL FORUMS - GUESTS MAY VIEW THIS SECTION - POSTING REQUIRES FREE REGISTRATION OR FULL MEMBERSHIP › FIELD HERPING AND FIELD STUDIES FORUM
(Moderator: Todd Hughes/antelope)

‹ Previous topic | Next topic ›