Litoria microbelos
Javelin Frog
Conservation Status
- EPBC
- Unlisted
- IUCN
- Least Concern
Calling Period
Apr
Dec
Feb
Jan
Mar
Nov
Oct
Sep
Description
A small species of frog reaching up to 2 cm in body length. It has a brown back, with a wide, lighter brown longitudinal stripe along the middle. There is often indistinct dark brown mottling on the head. There is a dark brown stripe from the tip of the snout to the side and a white stripe underneath the eye. The belly is white. The pupil is horizontal and the iris is gold. Fingers are unwebbed and toes are one-third webbed, both without discs.
Breeding Biology
Eggs are laid as small clusters attached to vegetation under the surface of the water in swamps, lagoons, billabongs, and ditches. Tadpoles can reach a total length of nearly 2.5 cm and are brown and gold in colour, with a dark longitudinal stripe from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail. They often remain at the bottom and shallow edges of water bodies, and it is unknown how long they take to develop into frogs. Breeds during spring to summer in the wet season.
Similar Species
Looks similar to Litoria bicolor, Litoria fallax, and Litoria longirostris in its distribution, but has a different back colour to Litoria bicolor and Litoria fallax, and lacks the long and very pointed snout of Litoria longirostris.
Images
Photo: Adam Parsons
Photo: Adam Parsons
Photo: Stephen Mahony
Calls
By: Dane Trembath
By: Paul Doughty