Italian agile frog facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Italian agile frog |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Rana
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| Species: |
latastei
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The Italian agile frog (Rana latastei) is a special type of frog. It is also called Lataste's frog. This frog belongs to the family of "true frogs" (Ranidae). You can find it mainly in southern Europe, especially around the Po River Basin in Italy.
Sadly, the Italian agile frog is one of Europe's most endangered amphibians. Its numbers have dropped a lot recently. Because of this, many groups are working hard to protect it.
Contents
What's in a Name?
The scientific name, latastei, honors a French scientist. His name was Fernand Lataste, and he studied reptiles and amphibians.
What Does the Italian Agile Frog Look Like?
The Italian agile frog can grow up to about 7.5 centimeters (3 inches) long. Female frogs are usually a bit bigger than males. Most of these frogs have pointed noses, but some have rounded ones.
Like many frogs in Europe, the Italian agile frog is mostly gray or brownish-red. Its belly is white. There isn't much color difference in frogs from different places. Their throat is dark, with a thin, light stripe down to the chest. Some male frogs, especially during mating season, might have dark red or brown spots on their throats. They also have orange-red patches under their thighs and special pads on their front feet.
Where Do Italian Agile Frogs Live?
Frog Homes: Habitat
The Italian agile frog mostly lives in low-lying areas, usually below 400 meters (1,300 feet) above sea level. They only go into the lower parts of mountains. Colder mountain weather can slow down how fast their young grow.
These frogs love forests with oak and hornbeam trees. They also like wet forests near rivers, filled with white poplar and white willow trees. These forest types can often get flooded, which the frogs don't mind. You might also find them in open places like wet meadows or peat bogs. They can even live in cottonwood farms or ditches in farm areas if there's enough plants.
Sometimes, Italian agile frogs have been found living in caves in Italy and Croatia. Scientists think they might have been washed into the caves by floods. Or, they might have moved there on purpose. They could be hiding from predators, looking for food, or seeking humid places. We don't know if they have their babies in these underground spots.
These frogs prefer wet places with lots of rotting plants. They stay close to rivers, streams, and lakes. Freshwater is very important for them to have their young. They are most active early in the morning and at sunset. When the weather is dry, they stay closer to water and move less until evening.
Adult frogs are found closer to water during their breeding season, from February to April. They move more into the forests when it gets wetter in late spring and summer. They are most active in summer and early autumn after the breeding season ends. They start to hibernate on land in October and come out in spring to breed.
Where Are They Found? Geographic Distribution
The Italian agile frog lives only in certain areas. You can find them in the plains of northern Italy, a tiny part of southern Switzerland, and the Istrian region of Slovenia and Croatia. In Italy, they are found in four regions: Lombardy, Venetia, Piedmont, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. They are most common in Lombardy and Venetia. Their homes mostly follow the Po River plains and its smaller rivers.
Protecting the Italian Agile Frog
The IUCN (a group that tracks endangered species) lists this frog as "Vulnerable." A report from 2006 said there were only about 250 groups of these frogs left in the wild. The groups in the west were smaller and more likely to disappear. These remaining groups were small, separated, and losing their genetic diversity. The biggest dangers to these frogs are losing their homes, damage to their homes, and their homes being broken into small pieces. This is because they are specially adapted to the floodplain woods of the Po River basin.
Losing Their Homes
Pumping water for farm crops has been very harmful. It makes places less suitable for frogs to have their young. Italian agile frogs don't travel far. They usually stay close to where they breed. So, when forests are broken up, it also leads to less genetic diversity among these frogs. This could make them more likely to get sick from viruses like Ranavirus. Being genetically isolated might also cause big differences in size among different groups of R. latastei.
New animal species that hunt frogs have also put the Italian agile frog in more danger. These include the Percottuss glenii, the American bullfrog, and crayfish.
Recently, tiny pieces of plastic called microplastics have become a worry for these frogs. Tadpoles eat without being picky, so they are more likely to swallow these small plastic bits. More microplastic exposure has been linked to slower growth, less activity, and lower survival rates in R. latastei tadpoles. Smaller plastic pieces and fibers seem to cause the most harm. This might be because they can block or tangle up the tadpoles' insides. Some scientists think bigger, more developed tadpoles might be more resistant to these effects. We don't yet know how microplastics affect adult frogs.
What People Are Doing to Help
To help protect this frog, several special areas were suggested in Italy. Also, frog tadpoles were raised and moved to good new homes. The Lombardy region started a conservation project between 1999 and 2001. This project fixed damaged and polluted ponds. It also moved tadpoles back to existing and man-made ponds.
However, these efforts were only somewhat successful. Many tadpoles were put in ponds that didn't have the right plants for the Italian agile frog. Human activities like farming, water pollution, and tourism also hurt conservation efforts. New predators, like red crayfish in the new homes, have also caused problems.
A plan from 2006 called for protecting and better managing R. latastei habitats. It also asked for getting rid of invasive predators. Other efforts include fixing habitats, finding possible future homes in Europe, and doing more research. They are also surveying where the frogs live and checking existing laws that protect them.
What Do Italian Agile Frogs Eat?
Adult frogs look for food in forest leaves, burrows, and riverbanks. They eat insects like beetles, bugs, and earwigs. They also enjoy worms, snails, centipedes, and some spiders. Tadpoles eat algae and other tiny bits of food they find in the water.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
How They Have Babies: Fertilization
Italian agile frogs have their babies in small, permanent or temporary water spots. These spots have lots of water plants or submerged plant material. This includes ponds, ditches, or puddles in floodplains. They choose different breeding spots than other frogs in their area. Other frogs often prefer sunnier places with fewer trees.
Female frogs lay their eggs in one compact clump. This clump is usually within 50 centimeters (20 inches) of the water surface. They typically lay eggs 2 to 15 days after mating. They only lay one batch of eggs per breeding season. They usually choose spots away from areas that flood often. A single egg clump usually has between 676 and 2720 eggs. The average is about 1278 eggs per clump.
The Italian agile frog's eggs have thinner jelly layers than other frog species. Their layers are only 6 to 7 millimeters (about 0.24 inches) thick. The water temperature must be at least 2°C (35.6°F) for them to lay eggs. The eggs hatch after 10 to 15 days. The number of egg clumps laid each year changes a lot. This depends on temperature, humidity, and other environmental factors.
Like other European frogs, the tadpoles change into froglets after 2 to 3 months. This change is called metamorphosis. The froglets are between 13 and 15 millimeters (about 0.55 inches) long. They leave the water in late June or July. Female frogs leave the breeding site right after laying eggs. Males and young frogs stay there for up to 5 weeks.
Both male and female frogs can have babies in their first breeding season after changing into froglets. However, they don't become fully mature until their second year. Males live for about 3 years, while females live for 4 years. This makes the Italian agile frog one of the shortest-lived common frogs in Europe. Because they don't live long and have many babies at once, the number of Italian agile frogs can change a lot each year.
Finding a Mate
Between late February and mid-April, male and female frogs gather at breeding sites. Some males even spend winters in ponds. This way, they can get the best breeding spot before other males arrive. Males arrive first and make a special call to attract females. They repeat this call every 20 to 60 seconds underwater until a female comes.
This call can be one of two distinct sounds. The first is a short, high-pitched "mew" that lasts about half a second. The second is a harsh, guttural "brum" that lasts about one second. The "mew" call is for talking over long distances. You can hear it up to 4 meters (13 feet) away. The lower-frequency "brum" is for short-distance talking, no more than 30 centimeters (12 inches) away.
Some research suggests males call not just to attract females. They also use calls to show other males who is in charge. The "mew" might be mainly for attracting mates. The "brum" might be for courting females or threatening rival males. We don't know if males of this species show other behaviors to protect their territory. This is despite how much they compete for mates. In larger groups of frogs, it's more common for a few males to mate with many females. Having many mates is less common in smaller groups. This suggests there are more chances for male competition in larger groups.
Who Are Their Enemies?
Predators
The main animals that hunt the Italian agile frog include snakes, herons, pheasants, ducks, and egrets. Tadpoles are eaten by water birds, fish, and some invertebrates like crayfish.
Tadpoles have ways to avoid predators. They will either freeze to avoid being seen. Or, they will "zig-zag" back and forth to make it hard for predators to guess where they will go next. They also become less active if they smell dragonfly larvae. Dragonfly larvae are one of their most common predators. This ability to change their behavior when dragonflies are near makes them different from other Rana species.
Tadpoles don't change their behavior as much when they sense new predators like crayfish. It's debated whether predators affect how quickly eggs hatch. However, crayfish have been shown to make embryos develop faster. Embryos exposed to these new predators reach a certain stage of development earlier. Tadpoles also tend to change into froglets earlier when new predators are around. This helps them escape and avoid predators.
However, this faster development might have some downsides. Froglets that develop faster tend to have smaller leg bones. This is likely because they change into froglets earlier. Smaller leg bones mean they can't jump as well. So, frogs that take the longest to develop end up with the longest legs and can jump the best. This reduced jumping ability might make adult frogs less able to escape predators. It also makes it harder for them to catch food.
Competitors
The Italian agile frog often lives in the same places as the closely related Rana dalmatina. But they usually don't compete for food or shelter. This is because they have more specific habitats and breeding behaviors. However, the Italian agile frog does have less success having babies when there are many R. dalmatina around. This is probably because R. latastei females that mate with R. dalmatina males cannot produce healthy young.
R. latastei tadpoles will also become more active if they sense other tadpoles competing with them. This mainly happens with R. dalmatina tadpoles. Interestingly, R. dalmatina tadpoles don't change their behavior as much when R. latastei tadpoles are around.
Images for kids
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The Italian agile frog is a small brown frog with little morphological variation between different territories.
