92 TJ. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 206 



mouth to behind the axilla. These two stripes seem to be constant 

 throughout life. The dorsal pattern, however, becomes simpler as the 

 frog grows, for the finer stripes or dots between the three main dorsal 

 stripes disappear almost entirely as maximum size is approached, and 

 the remnant of the former intermediate stripes appears as a few widely 

 scattered elongate spots. In every frog over 40 mm. in total length, 

 the body pattern clearly consists of three dorsal and two lateral 

 stripes (on each side), with very little trace of the original fine lines 

 formerly lying between the dorsal stripes. The form described by 

 A. Lutz as H. semiguttata has this coloration of the old adult, and the 

 type which I examined measures 43 mm. in length, near the known 

 maximum. USNM 102285 is very much like the type of semiguttata 

 and is also 43 mm. in length. USNM 81125 and 96581-4 are large in 

 size (42 to 44 mm.) and show the old adult pattern well. H. striata, 

 on the other hand, is based upon a partly grown individual having the 

 additional dots and hnes still showing. USNM 98025, a young frog 

 27 mm. long, is not lined at all; its pattern is composed of 3 series of 

 large beads separated by series of small dots. The simple, hned pat- 

 tern found in frogs above 40 mm. may be the result of sex as well as of 

 age, since all the large specimens are females. 



Remarks. — The voice of the male of this common species is a char- 

 acteristic chirping pst-pst-psf often repeated. The vocal sac is 

 median, and in captivity the adults in the glass containers may be 

 seen singing at night and sleeping all day. At Nova Friburgo they 

 were collected as late as May 12 in the shallow water of a garden pool 

 where they were still coming at night to breed. By day, they were 

 taken from the midst of thorny tangled bushes overhanging the pool, 

 where a number of metamorphic young were also found. The fe- 

 males are very prolific, and enormous quantities of gelatinous egg 

 masses are found in the mountaiu pools fed by running water in the 

 Serra da Bocaina, in Nov^a Friburgo, and in Colonia Alpina near 

 Teres6polis (this last being recorded by Goeldi). The tadpoles 

 develop with comparative rapidity in two months in the laboratory, 

 and probably even more rapidly in natural surroundings. They are 

 plump, mottled, and dark, and are found in running and shghtly 

 moving water. Some young frogs not quite metamorphosed, USNM 

 96707, measure between 16 and 17 mm. in head and body length, the 

 limbs being completely developed and the tail a mere stub. The 

 pigment on the dorsal surface is confined to scattered black dots, al- 

 though the dark lateral stripe is evident on the loreal region and sides 

 of the body, while the outer surfaces of the limbs show dark and light 

 stripes. 



