Rana temporaria - amphibian class, genus and family frog, order anurans. Translated into Russian - grass frog. Habitat - steppes, forest-steppes, banks of water bodies, forests, wet swampy places. The life expectancy of an amphibian is quite large, in nature - about 5 years, in captivity - can reach 15-18 years.
Common Frog Description
There are three subspecies of the common frog: Rana temporaria parvipalmata, Rana temporaria honnorati, Rana temporaria temporaria. They differ only in habitat and color. The grass frog has a squat body, the length of which can reach 10 cm. The average weight of an amphibian is about 22.5 g. Of course, there are also larger individuals whose weight reaches 30 g, but in nature they are very rare. The color of the back varies depending on the habitat. From above, the grass frog can be gray, olive or reddish-brick. A distinctive feature of the amphibian is a well-defined dark brown triangle near the eardrum. There are small (1-3 mm) dark spots on the sides and back of the frog. There is a marble-like pattern on the dark abdomen. The grass frog, as a rule, has brown eyes with black horizontal pupils, however, there arealbino individuals with red eyes. During the mating season, males become lighter in color, while females, on the contrary, become darker. The skin of an amphibian is smooth, slightly slippery, the epidermis does not keratinize.
Behavior in nature
The common frog is most active in the evening and at night. Daytime activity can occur only in cloudy weather or in humid shady places. On a sunny day, the frog hides under stones, in dense vegetation, in stumps. With the onset of cold weather, when the air temperature drops below 60 C, activity stops. Frogs spend the winter in large groups, the number of which ranges from several tens to hundreds. Places for wintering they select scrupulously. As a rule, these are non-freezing rivers with a muddy bottom, roadside ditches or wetlands. The group tries to overcome the distance to the wintering place in one day, usually it is no more than one and a half kilometers from the summer habitat. If hibernation conditions worsen, the group leaves the selected area, choosing a more suitable place.
Young frogs leave for wintering later, some of them can be found even in November. During hibernation, frogs sit on tucked-in hind legs, with their front legs they cover their heads, turning them with their palms up. The hibernation period lasts about 155 days. At this time, the frogs switch to skin respiration. If the body of water chosen as the wintering groundfreezes to the bottom, then the whole group may die.
Food
Many amphibian lovers are interested in what the grass frog eats. The favorite delicacy of adults is flies, slugs, dragonflies, midges, snails. They hunt them with a sticky long tongue. Tadpoles mostly prefer plant foods. They feed on detritus and algae. During the mating season, the frog does not eat.
Reproduction
Frogs become sexually mature at the age of 3 years. Reproduction can occur in any shallow body of water: in puddles, ditches, lakes. Spawning begins 3-5 days after hibernation, in April-May. Males come to the reservoir earlier. They invite partners with the help of marriage "songs". Frogs begin to mate on the way to the spawning site. At this time, all eggs in females are ovulated and located in the thin-walled, elongated section of the oviducts, ready for laying. After spawning, the females leave the spawning area. The frog laying is a lump of tightly stuck together shells. One individual lays 650-1400 eggs.
Enemies
Many birds feed on frog caviar, for example: mallard, common newt, black-tailed godwit, wigeon, black tern, gray duck. Tadpoles are preyed upon by white-browed thrush, magpie, swimming beetle, roller robin, field thrush. Adults feed on: black stork, gray shrike, upland owl, eagle owl, vipers, goshawk, gull, spotted eagle, shrike. In the spring, frogs can be eaten by wolves.
Frogherbal: maintenance and care
To keep a common frog at home, it is recommended to purchase a fairly large aquaterrarium (at least 30 liters). If this is not possible, you can purchase an ordinary aquarium, which is filled with water, but wood or foam is placed in it, which will stick to the surface. This is done so that the animal can spend part of the time out of the water. It is advisable to throw leaves or stems of some kind of aquatic vegetation on these "islands of land" so that the frog can hide from the light. It is also necessary to put aquatic vegetation on the bottom of the aquarium. Since under natural conditions the frog is not too demanding on the place of residence, it is quite simple to keep it in captivity. The water in the aquarium can be changed once a week by 1/3, but only once a month completely. Additional lighting or heating is also not required. You can feed a pet at home with cockroaches, flies, crickets, bloodworms, tubifex. From time to time, the frog can be given small pieces of raw meat. Juveniles are fed lettuce leaves or nettle leaves scalded with boiling water.
Status of populations
Many factors cause the death of frogs. These primarily include: pollution of water bodies with harmful substances and household waste, heavy traffic. In addition, a huge number of frogs are caught annually for laboratory experiments and for lovers of terrariums. Destruction of forests, industrial pollution of the environment have led tothat in some places the frogs have completely disappeared.
