## Squirrel Treefrog - Hyla squirella

- Diagnostic Features:
  - Size: 1 to 1.5 inches (22 to 41 mm)
  - Color:
    - Usually a muddy, yellow green
    - Highly variable, even on a single individual
    - Chameleon-like property allows this frog to change colors and patterns
  - Other:
    - Small frog
    - Sometimes a dark bar between eyes
    - May be light, broken lateral stripes
    - Lower parts of body and legs give a spotted appearance and parts may look dyed yellow
    - Smooth skin
    - Large toe pads present
- Natural History:
  - Habitat:
    - This frog can be spotted in moist areas, in gardens, and on trees, shrubs, and vines.
  - Behavior:
    - It is nocturnal and aggressively forages for insects in trees and shrubs.
    - In rainy weather, it can be seen in daylight.
    - In dry weather, it seeks shelter during the day.
  - Breeding:
    - Breeding takes place from March to October.
    - Normally breeds with summer storms.
    - Single eggs are laid in shallow pools, about 1,000 total.
- Voice: Sonogram : Call ( Burke, Lowndes, Cook, & Wilcox Counties )
  - Two calls:
    - Before or during rain, raspy chatter, quite squirrel like
    - Breeding call is ducklike, but slightly more nasal; repeated 15 to 20 times in 10 seconds at the height of the breeding season.
- Tadpoles:
  - Tadpole stage: 45 days
  - Transformed size: 12 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
  - LTRF 2/3; narrow midventral gap in marginal papillae absent; eyes lateral; east of Mississippi River; regardless of size, stage or range, notable colors or patterns in Section 10 absent; P-3 medium, P-2/P-3 1.3-1.6; lateral surface of tail muscle pigmented throughout (even if diffusely), mottled, or graded from dark dorsally to pale ventrally (i.e., not bicolored)
  - lower jaw medium, entirely black; P-2/P-3 ca. 1.4; length of one side of A-2/width of medial gap ca. 4.6; midventral marginal papillae uniserial; uniformly brown or tan in life, sometimes entire body with bright golden hue, fins clear or with minor black speckling in older tadpoles; throat speckled; usually temporary lentic sites in Coastal Plain from Mississippi River to southeastern Virginia (extremely variable and difficult to identify consistently)
- Range:
  - In North America, this treefrog is found in the deep South from Maryland to Texas.
  - In Georgia, it is found primarily below the fall line.

  - 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