## Barking Treefrog - Hyla gratiosa

- Diagnostic Features:
  - Size: 2 to 2.75 inches (51 to 69 mm)
  - Color:
    - At least some green present, but may be dark brown to light green, pale gray or yellow.
    - May be very pale when calling
    - Become darker when upset or sick
  - Other:
    - A larger, stouter treefrog
    - Profuse, round, dark markings usually persist thru various color changes
    - Large toe pads present
  - Sexual Dimorphism:
    - Throats on males may be darkened during breeding season
- Natural History:
  - Habitat:
    - Climbs in the trees, but also frequents lower levels, even the ground.
    - May burrow, particularily in hot dry weather.
  - Behavior:
    - It feeds on various insects.
  - Breeding:
    - Breeding occurs from March to August.
    - Males call generally from the water.
    - Breeding may be precipitated by heavy rain.
    - Breeds in shallow pools or ponds. Individuals may call in shallow temporary pools after rain, but most groups are in permanent or semi-permanent water.
    - Females deposit eggs singly on the bottom
    - Total egg production/female about 2000
- Voice: Sonogram : Call (Long, Wheeler, Oglethorpe, & Columbia Counties) Cope's Gray Treefrogs & Fowler's Toads in background.
  - A barking call of nine or ten raucous syllables is uttered from high in the treetops or as moving down to breeding sites
  - The breeding call, given close to the water, is a single explosive Doonk or Toonk often repeated at intervals of one to two seconds
- Tadpoles:
  - Tadpole stage: 40 - 70 days
  - Transformed size: 14 - 20 mm
  - LTRF 2/3; narrow midventral gap in marginal papillae absent; eyes lateral; P-3 medium to short, P-2/P-3 > 1.2; east of Mississippi River
  - lower jaw sheath robust and very wide, half nearest serrated edge very black, remainder brown; P-2/P-3 ca. 1.5; length of one side of A-2/width of medial gap ca. 4.6; midventral marginal papillae biserial; fins clear until tadpole gets quite large, then has punctate melanophores proximally and stellate ones distally, the latter often dilate at night to produce jet-black tail, a white line caused by lack of pigment in subintegumentary layers extends from each naris toward the adjacent eye, tail muscle lightly pigmented until tadpoles get large; throat not pigmented
- Range:
  - In North America, North Carolina to south Florida and eastern Louisiana, chiefly in the coastal plain but also in many upland areas
  - Isolated colonies in Deleware and adjacent Maryland, southwest Kentucky and adjacent Tennesee and in southeast Virginia
  - In Georgia, it is found into the lower piedmont. It has been found along the western border of the state in the north. There it tends to be found on or near ridgetops.

  - In Light Blue: Williamson, Gerald K. & Moulis, Robert A., Distribution of Amphibians and Reptiles in Georgia, Special Publication No. 3, Savannah Science Museum, Inc. Savannah, Georgia, 1994
  - In Green: Sound Recordings
  - In Yellow: From Both '94 study and Sound Recordings
  - In Magenta: Photograph, not found by '94, may or may not be sound record
  - In Medium Blue: Photograph and in '94 study, may or may not be sound record
  - In Orange: County Record by other Herp Atlas Volunteers
  - In Red: US Distribution from various sources

June 28, 2003 - wwknapp@mindspring.com