38 



Frogs of the Okefinokee Swamp 



THE LARVAL PERIOD 



According to the length of the larval period, the species of the Okefinokee 

 region fall into two major groups: those which transform during the season 

 in which the eggs are laid (14 or 1 5 species) and those which require one or more 

 years for their development (5 or 6 species). The data are as follows : (Table 14) 



Table 14 



The forms with long larval periods, namely carpenter frog, green frog, 

 mink frog, Heckscher's frog, southern bullfrog and common bullfrog are 

 generally mid-summer breeders, require 25-53 mm- for transformation size 

 (usually 30-53 mm.) and have uniform-sized vitelli (1.3-2.0 mm.) relatively 

 small for the transformation size required. 



The forms in the short larval group fall into three groups: The first 

 assemblage of four — solitary spade-foot, narrow-mouthed toad, oak toad, 

 and southern toad — have small average transformation sizes 8- 11 mm., rela- 

 tively larger vitelli 1.0-2.0 mm., and may require a larval minima of 14 to 

 35 days. The second group comprehend nine forms, namely the tree frogs 

 (Hylidae) of the swamp. They have larger average transformation sizes 

 (12 to 20 mm) and actually smaller vitelli and larval minima of 35 to 55 days. 

 The average of the minimum sizes of the vitelli of the nine species is between 

 .8 and .9 mm. wherein in the first short larval group of four it is 1.15 mm. 



