Philoria pughi

Conservation Status

Calling Period

Description

A small species of frog reaching up to 3 cm in body length. It has a yellow-orange or red-purple back, with or without black or red-purple patches on the lower half if the back is yellow-orange. There is a black stripe from the tip of the snout to the arm, and often a black patch on the side. The belly is yellow, with red patches. The pupil is horizontal, and the iris is gold in the upper half and brown in the lower half. The arms and legs are often red-purple if the back is yellow-orange. Fingers and toes are unwebbed, both without discs. The female has large flanges on the first and second finger, which help to whip up protective foam around the eggs as they are laid.

Breeding Biology

Eggs are laid as a small foamy mass in shallow mud soaks, in or near small creek beds under rocks and vegetation. Tadpoles have not been described, but are likely to be similar to other Philoria species in colour, habit, and development time. Breeds during spring to summer.

Similar Species

Looks similar to Philoria kundagungan, Philoria loveridgei and Philoria richmondensis near its distribution, but usually has a different back colour to Philoria kundagungan and Philoria loveridgei, and has a different call to Philoria richmondensis.