Hyperolius argus
Summary 3
The Argus reed frog or African reed frog (Hyperolius argus) is found in Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It is one of only five species of frogs whose males and females do not share the same coloring. Males are usually green, and females usually reddish with small, bright spots. This species is highly variable in color and pattern. They live in low bushes and grasses in the wild. They show their best...
Description 4
A large eastern Hyperolius (both sexes 27-34 mm), the males green with a thin light dorsolateral line, the females with large round light spots. There is a sexual difference in coloration: males grass green to yellowish, sometimes with diffuse darker spots. A dark canthal line and a light canthal and dorsolateral line are often present. Ventrum whitish, throat and underside of limbs as dorsum. Females light to dark brown with light golden, black-edged canthal lines and rounded dorsal spots. Ventrum orange, limbs and feet red. Pupil horizontal.
The populations from South Africa and southern Mozambique differ somewhat from those of further north: males are often brown rather than green and females often have fewer spots, sometimes with dorsolateral lines instead. That makes them almost indistinguishable from H. puncticulatus, which according to Poynton and Broadley (1987) does not penetrate that far south. Furthermore there are indications of intergradation with H. semidiscus.Males can closely resemble H. pusillus and H. viridis in pattern and morphology but are much larger.
There is a great similarity, possibly reflecting true relationship, to the West African H. guttulatus. A comparison with H. kachalolae and H. pseudargus is made under these species.
This account was taken from "Treefrogs of Africa" by Arne Schiøtz with kind permission from Edition Chimaira publishers, Frankfurt am Main.
Sources and Credits
- (c) i_c_riddell, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by i_c_riddell
- (c) Graeme White, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Graeme White
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperolius_argus
- (c) AmphibiaWeb © 2000-2015 The Regents of the University of California, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/34268995
