HerpIndiana

Wood Frog (Lithobates (Rana) sylvaticus)

Description

Coloration: A medium sized brown frog with a dark mask. Woods Frogs have a dorsal coloration ranging from dark brown to light brown to a golden color. Dorsalateral folds are present, and ventral coloration is light with some gray mottling (Minton 2001, pg. 147-148).

Size: Adults reach lengths of 1.5-2.75 inches (Conant and Collins 1998, pg. 563).

Larvae: Tadpoles are dark above with golden speckling and often possess a light stripe on the side of the head. Tail fins are nearly transparent. Wood Frog tadpoles reach length of 1.5-2 inches before metamorphosis (Minton 2001, pg. 148).

Eggs: Eggs are laid in spherical masses and can be attached to vegetation or free-floating. They can contain up to three thousand eggs (Minton 2001, pg. 150).

Distribution

Wood Frogs can be found throughout Indiana, with the exception of much of the northwestern sand prairie region (Minton 2001, pg. 148-149).

Activity

Wood Frogs are active from late winter to late fall (Minton 2001, pg. 149).

Breeding Season: Wood Frogs are early breeders; breeding takes place from late February to early April in southern Indiana. Further north, it is delayed by about a month(Minton 2001, pg. 149-150).

Taxonomy

Wood Frogs do not have any subspecies. The Wood Frog belongs to the genus Rana and is in the family Ranidae which is represented in Indiana by 8 different species.

Natural History

Habitat: Wood Frogs inhabit environs from rocky gorges to moist woodland to swamps. They also can be found around the margins of lakes. For most of the year, these frogs are secretive and remain burried under cover, but during the breeding season, they are common around woodland ponds (Minton 2001, pg. 149). However, I have observed individuals throughout the summer around creeks, especially in shaded areas. I have flipped them under rocks and have observed them in the open. They can also be found occasionally around caves outside of the breeding season.

Feeding: Wood Frogs feed on a variety of invertebrates, and young in particular eat a fair amount of aquatic invertebrates (Minton 2001, pg. 150).

Breeding: Breeding occurs in shallow woodland pools, but they will also occasionally utilize edges of larger bodies of water (Minton 2001, pg. 150). I have observed breeding in a variety of ponds, from tiny woodland pools to shallow water in wet fields.

Call: The call of the Wood Frog is a quick series of a few clucking noises (Elliott 2004, pg. 15).