''Uperodon variegatus'', also known as the Eluru dot frog, termite nest frog, variable ramanella, variagated ramanella, white-bellied pug snout frog, or variagated globular frog, is a species of narrow-mouthed frog (family

Microhylidae The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family of frogs. The 683 species are in 63 genera and 11 subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family. Evolution A molecular phylo ...

) that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Earlier records from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

refer to what is now known as ''

Uperodon rohani ''Uperodon rohani'', commonly known as Rohan's globular frog, is a species of Microhylid frog. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. Etymology It was named after Rohan Pethiyagoda, a scientist who is renowned for his works on Sri Lankan fishes and amph ...

''. They are seen mostly in the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

season when they may enter homes. They are small in size and the variegated markings and the genus characteristic of having pads on the fingertips but not on their toes make them easy to identify.

Description

This species is small and often can be found indoors in homes. The discs on the fingers are triangular. Toes have rudimentary webbing with two metatarsal tubercles. The tibio-tarsal joint reaches shoulder when the hind leg is held along the body. They breed during the rainy season (April–October) and call during this time. Males call at night while afloat in water. They have a single subgular

vocal sac The vocal sac is the flexible membrane of skin possessed by most male frogs and toads. The purpose of the vocal sac is usually as an amplification of their mating or advertisement call. The presence or development of the vocal sac is one way o ...

. The call has been transcribed as ''ghauy'' ''ghauy''. The

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

s are brown or gray with black spots. Sometimes they have a blue spot on each side of the body. The tadpoles are bottom feeders and

metamorphose Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some insec ...

within a month.

Habitat

They breed in water in dark cavities and are often found in

termite mound Mound-building termites are a group of termite species that live in mounds. These termites live in Africa, Australia and South America. The mounds sometimes have a diameter of . Most of the mounds are in well-drained areas. Termite mounds usually ...

s or under stones. Recorded mainly from peninsular India including the dry zone being found even in Madras and West Bengal. They have been found to be quite tolerant to water salinity. They have been found to occur with large black scorpions ''

Heterometrus ''Heterometrus'', whose members are also known by the collective vernacular name giant forest scorpions, is a genus of scorpions belonging to the family Scorpionidae. It is distributed widely across tropical and subtropical southeastern Asia, in ...

'' sp. and when disturbed they crawl over the scorpions but flattened and froze when the scorpions walked over them. They can burrow in soft soil.Rao, C. R. N. & Ramanna, B. S. (1925) On a new genus of the family Engystomatidae (Batrachia). Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1925: 587-97. File:RamanellaVariegata4.jpg File:Ramanella variegata.jpg

References

External links

Termite nest frog
{{Taxonbar, from=Q28042415, from2=Q2709684 variegatus Frogs of India Endemic fauna of India Taxa named by Ferdinand Stoliczka Amphibians described in 1872