Although the rainy season, the period when amphibians are more active, is coming to an end soon, the year 2021 is the Year of Bull (or Ox) in Chinese New Year and we still have time to meet some BULLfrogs!
In this second post from the series, we want to introduce the Banded Bullfrog! As we mention in the post “Meet the bullfrogs in the Year of Bull - Chinese Bullfrog”, the Bullfrog family is not a natural “family”. Those species are not closely related, instead, it is simply a group of frogs that have a large body size. They can be found all over the world, including two native species in Hong Kong - Chinese Bullfrog and Banded Bullfrog.
Banded Bullfrog, which is also known as Asiatic Painted Frog,
Distribution: widely distributed in Hong Kong
Habitats: farmlands, shrubby grasslands, forest edges, around villages and urban areas
Reproduction period: Summer, from March to August
Diet: Adults - termites and ants; tadpoles - filter-feeders, feeding on organic materials from the water
Read the following cartoon field guide to know more about the ecology of Banded Bullfrog:
References:
Bringsøe, H., Suthanthangjai, M., Suthanthangjai, W., Lodder, J., & Komanasin, N. (2021). Gruesome twosome kukri rippers: Oligodon formosanus (Günther, 1872) and O. fasciolatus (Günther, 1864) eat Kaloula pulchra Gray, 1831 either by eviscerating or swallowing whole. Herpetozoa, 34, 49.
Chan, K.F., Cheung, K.S., Ho, C.Y., Lam, F.N, Tang, W.S., Lau, W.N., Bogadek, A. (2005). Field Guide to the Amphibians of Hong Kong.
Daly, J. W., Noimai, N., Kongkathip, B., Kongkathip, N., Wilham, J. M., Garraffo, H. M., ... & Chan-Ard, T. (2004). Biologically active substances from amphibians: preliminary studies on anurans from twenty-one genera of Thailand. Toxicon, 44(8), 805-815.
Kuangyang, L., Zhigang, Y., Haitao, S., Baorong, G., van Dijk, P.P., Iskandar, D., Inger, R.F., Dutta, S., Sengupta, S., Uddin Sarker, S. & Asmat, G. (2004). Kaloula pulchra (errata version published in 2016). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T57855A86163405. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T57855A11694615.en.
Major, T., Knierim, T., Barnes, C., Lonsdale, G., Waengsothorn, S., & Strine, C. (2017). Observations of Arboreality in a Burrowing Frog, the Banded Bullfrog, Kaloula pulchra (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae). Current herpetology, 36(2), 148-152.
Purkayastha J. (2015). Kaloula pulchra (banded bullfrog). Defensive behavior. Herpetological Review 46(3): 412–413.
楊懿如、李鵬翔. (2019). 台灣蛙類與蝌蚪圖鑑.
中國兩棲類. (2021). “中國兩棲類”資訊系統. 中國, 雲南省, 昆明市, 中國科學院昆明動物研究所. 網站：http://www.amphibiachina.org/.
牛年見牛蛙 - 花狹口蛙 (Banded Bullfrog / Asiatic Painted Frog)
雨季已漸漸進入尾聲，每年兩棲類最活躍時期也快要告一段落。今年是牛年，要抓緊夏天的尾巴，不如來認識一下「牛蛙」。
來到牛蛙系列的下回，今次就來介紹花狹口蛙 (Banded Bullfrog) 吧！上回提到，牛蛙「家族」並非分類學上的「Family科」，而是指一群體型龐大的青蛙，牠們的足跡遍布世界各地，香港的代表除了有虎紋蛙(Chinese Bullfrog)，還有叫聲如牛的花狹口蛙。
花狹口蛙又名亞洲錦蛙，
分布：廣泛分布於香港
生境：常見於不同的生境，包括農田、灌草叢、林邊、村邊和市區
繁殖期：夏季，三月至八月
食性：成體 - 捕食螞蟻和白蟻；蝌蚪 - 濾食水中有機物
以下的卡通小圖鑑將介紹更多有關花狹口蛙生態的資訊：
快來抓緊夏天的尾巴，在牛年尋找牛蛙的蹤影吧！
參考資料： Bringsøe, H., Suthanthangjai, M., Suthanthangjai, W., Lodder, J., & Komanasin, N. (2021). Gruesome twosome kukri rippers: Oligodon formosanus (Günther, 1872) and O. fasciolatus (Günther, 1864) eat Kaloula pulchra Gray, 1831 either by eviscerating or swallowing whole. Herpetozoa, 34, 49.
Chan, K.F., Cheung, K.S., Ho, C.Y., Lam, F.N, Tang, W.S., Lau, W.N., Bogadek, A. (2005). Field Guide to the Amphibians of Hong Kong.
Daly, J. W., Noimai, N., Kongkathip, B., Kongkathip, N., Wilham, J. M., Garraffo, H. M., ... & Chan-Ard, T. (2004). Biologically active substances from amphibians: preliminary studies on anurans from twenty-one genera of Thailand. Toxicon, 44(8), 805-815.
Kuangyang, L., Zhigang, Y., Haitao, S., Baorong, G., van Dijk, P.P., Iskandar, D., Inger, R.F., Dutta, S., Sengupta, S., Uddin Sarker, S. & Asmat, G. (2004). Kaloula pulchra (errata version published in 2016). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T57855A86163405. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T57855A11694615.en.
Major, T., Knierim, T., Barnes, C., Lonsdale, G., Waengsothorn, S., & Strine, C. (2017). Observations of Arboreality in a Burrowing Frog, the Banded Bullfrog, Kaloula pulchra (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae). Current herpetology, 36(2), 148-152.
Purkayastha J. (2015). Kaloula pulchra (banded bullfrog). Defensive behavior. Herpetological Review 46(3): 412–413.
楊懿如、李鵬翔. (2019). 台灣蛙類與蝌蚪圖鑑.
中國兩棲類. (2021). “中國兩棲類”資訊系統. 中國, 雲南省, 昆明市, 中國科學院昆明動物研究所. 網站：http://www.amphibiachina.org/.
作者簡介：陳文灝在香港大學取得理學士學位（主修：生態學與生物多樣性），畢業後加入保育團體，負責保育兩爬動物的環境教育項目。現時為嶺南大學環境科學研究生。他同時是一名生態藝術工作者，從大自然中得到靈感，他成立了 RedstART Studio (IG link: redstart.studio/ FB link: RedstART Studio)，用畫筆結合自己的生態知識去傳遞自然保育的訊息，將藝術融入環境教育。