Japanese Tree Frog

Quick Facts

Name: Japanese Tree Frog

Diet: Insects and spiders

Behaviour: Mostly nocturnal

Lifespan: 6-11 years

Size: Between 3 and 4 centimetres from snout to butt

Habitat/Range: Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Northeast China, North Mongolia, and Far East Russia. They can be found in various leafy habitats such as forests, swamps, and rice fields.

Threats: Habitat loss, droughts, water pollution, and noise pollution

Conservation Status: Least Concern (LC)

Names & Nicknames: Japanese tree frog, Nihon-amagaeru.

Size: A tiddler, really. 3-4cm in length – about 10 times smaller than it's chonky frog friend, the Goliath frog!

Communication: A lone male frog calling into the night trying to find a mate – a tale as old as time? This is the usual story for these froggy romantics; however, when too many males are close together, all calling at once, these ingenious amphibians have learned how to desynchronise their calls – not shout over each other, basically – so lonely females can find their froggy princes. How’s that for a natural Cinderella’s slipper moment?! This system was so clever that researchers have now used it to create an algorithm for more efficient wireless networks. If only there was a Nobel prize for amphibians.

What do they sound like: Their call sort of sounds like a very rapid and high-pitched barking; you'd be surprised to see them staring up at you if you didn't know what you were looking for.

Favourite Hangout: These frogs (like most) need two things, vegetation and water. A nice swamp or forest by a pond is perfect for these moist legends, a bonus if there are plenty of tasty insects around!

Favourite Snack: Insects and arachnids! Japanese tree frogs can't say no to a snack-sized plate of beetles, flies, or ants, sometimes even a tasty spider.

Eating Habits: These frogs are notoriously not fussy. To them, the best meal is the closest meal. However, during the breeding season, the male Japanese tree frogs are so busy calling and wooing that they often forget to eat!

Love Language: Japanese tree frog dates can be a sticky affair. After a male and female are united, the female will whip up a sticky ball of foam to lay her eggs in. However, this can attract other males hoping to fertilise some stray eggs in the foamy nest. What results is a rather confusing and sticky froggy foam party.

If you see them: These amphibians are green, and the vegetation they live in is shockingly...also green. As such, they can be quite hard to spot. They're much easier to hear, however, especially during breeding season when the forest comes alive with a chorus of unusual yet glorious high-pitched barking.

Red Flags: For such a noisy creature, these frogs actually prefer peace and quiet, at least from human noise. Research has found that living in noisy environments, such as near wind turbines, stresses our little hoppers out and lowers their immunity. Speaking of which, the stress is real for these little froggos who are trying to find their one true love.

Glow-up: Frogs are pretty well known for their extraordinary glow-up, the classic egg-to-tadpole-to-froglet-to-a-beautiful-fully-formed-frog story. And that's no different here. Eggs are laid in a foamy nest that hardens to protect the eggs inside; then the rains come, and the tadpoles hatch, released from their bubbly incubator and free to swim and grow in the ponds and marshes of their habitat. After about a month, they're transformed, trading their tails and underwater lifestyle for sticky footpads and trees.

Facts: These frogs like to climb high up into trees. However, six plucky frogstronauts have gone much, much higher, having been flown up to and spending eight days on the space station Mir as part of the ‘Frog in Space Experiment’!

Who are they in the friendship group: Loved being part of the school choir.

How threatened are they: Least concern