32 FROGS. 



The naiTOW-mouthed toad, so far as known, transforms the same 

 season during which the eggs are laid. This period was formerly 

 considered to be 90 to 100 days, but Dockort's*^ captives required only 

 16 days from hatcliing to transformation, an amazingly short period. 

 The largest of the tadpoles of this species reach a length of 1§ inches 

 and are very easily distinguished from those of other species. The 

 body is very flat, and the depth of it is contained 1^ times in the 

 width, while other tadpoles have round bodies; there is no spiracle; 

 there are no horny-edged mandibles, and the lower lip of ordinary 

 tadpoles is not present, w^hile the upper has either a faint row of teeth 

 or none at all. The color of the tadpole is quite conspicuous. On 

 the back and sides it is a uniform broun or olive black. Along the 

 middle of the muscular part of the tail there is a bright, clear, white 

 band one-fourth to one-half inch long. Along either side of the belly 

 there is a similar white line, and most of the belly is of this clear 

 white. x\ll in all, it is our most remarkable tadpole. 



The kno\\Ti tree-frog tadpoles of this country, with the exception 

 of the peeper, have the two rows of teeth on the upper lip and two 

 on the lower, thus differing from the desirable frogs which have two 

 rows on the upper and three on the lower. Furthermore, the upper 

 tail crest (tliis is also true of the peeper tree frog) extends onto the 

 back almost to between the eyes, which are lateral, visible both from 

 the back and belly. In the tree-frog tadpoles the eyes are not 

 visible from the lower side of the animal, and the tail crest seldom 

 reaches onto the back beyond the vertical of the spiracle. 



The common tree-toad tadpole takes about 50 or 60 days for 

 development from the egg to the transformed tree toad. Sometimes 

 the period may be no longer than 45 days or, in other cases, as great 

 as 65 days. These tadpoles can be distinguished at once by their 

 long tails, wliich are 2.2 to 3.5 times the length of the body and 

 scarlet or orange vermilion in color, with black blotches more promi- 

 nent near the margins of the crests. The belly is conspicuously of a 

 white or light cream color, slightly iridescent, and the intestine does 

 not show through. These tadpoles reach a length of 2 inches. (See 

 PI. XX, fig. 8.) 



The peejier tadpole may have the rows of teeth two and two, as in 

 American tree frogs in general, or some of the tadpoles may have a 

 small third goateelike row on the edge of the lower lip. The peeper 

 tadpole transforms about 90 or 100 days after egg laying and never 

 exceeds 1..3 inches in length. The tail is only 1.4 to 2.1 times the 

 length of the body. The tail crests are clear and usually heavily 

 pigmented with purplish black blotches near the outer edges. (See 

 PI. XX, fig. 9.) 



The swamp cricket frog spends about 75 to 100 days in passing 

 from the egg to transformation. The tadpole is the darkest in color 

 of any tree-frog tadpole; the body is brownish black all over, and the 

 back and the upper two-tliirds of the muscular part of the tail have 

 the same color. The lower third of the muscular portion of the tail 

 is whitish. The tail crests are transparent and practically unspotted, 

 a character which is distinctive in an adult tadpole. The rows of 

 teeth are 2-2, or 2-2 with a slight suggestion of a third lower row. 



oDeckert, R. F.: Loc. cit., pp. 1, 2. 



