Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea)
- Family: Hylidae (Tree Frogs)
- Class: Amphibians
DESCRIPTION
The Green Tree Frog, as its name suggests, is bright green to dark olive in colour, often with scattered white spots on the sides and occasionally on the back. It is a large frog, growing to about 10 cm in length when fully grown. The ventral surface is white. The skin tends to be smooth or slightly granular and the finger and toe discs are large, with the fingers about one third webbed and the toes nearly three quarters webbed. There is a fold of skin from the eye to the arm.
DISTRIBUTION
It is found from the coast to the drier interior of north-western Western Australia, the northern half of the Northern Territory, Queensland, News South Wales and north-eastern South Australia, and is also found in Papua New Guinea.
HABITAT
The Green Tree Frog is found in a wide variety of habitat types, and is often located amongst human houses, frequenting toilets, shower blocks, water tanks and troughs, downpipes, windmills, and other moist environments.
THREATS
Habitat modification by clearing of vegetation and invasive weeds may pose a threat to the Green Tree Frog, however they are widely distributed, and though there is some suggestion that they may be declining, they are still relatively common.
GENERAL INFORMATION
The call is a deep “crawk…crawk…crawk” and it breeds in the summer months from December to February, usually after rain. Breeding occurs in shallow water and the eggs are large and laid in clumps that float in a single layer on the surface of the water. They are sometimes seen at night sitting below outside lights to catch insects attracted by the light.