Common spadefoot spadefoot (pelobates fuscus). Common spadefoot
Pelobates fuscus (Laurenti, 1768)
Squad. Tailless. Anura.
Family. Garlics. Pelobatidae.
Security rank. International.
Spreading. IN Yaroslavl region The spadefoot spadefoot is found sporadically in Lyubimsky municipal district. In Russia it is widespread in the European part and Western Siberia.
General distribution: Europe, Kazakhstan.
Number. Scarce species.
Main identifying characteristics. The body length of the spadefoot spadefoot reaches 71 mm. The forehead is convex between the eyes. The inner calcaneal tubercle is light brown or yellowish. The main color of the spadefoot is brown or gray. On the back there is an almost symmetrical pattern of dark, clearly defined spots, sometimes forming stripes. A light stripe runs across the entire back. The lower part of the body is light with dark gray spots. The skin on the sides and back is smooth, but flat bumps are scattered throughout the body.
Habitats and lifestyle. The spadefoot lives in the forest zone on the plains, choosing areas of terrain with loose soil. Her characteristic feature- this is the ability to burrow very quickly into the soil, using the large calcaneal tubercle and hind limbs.
Garlic is a dry-loving species. It is found in water bodies only during breeding. During the day it likes to burrow into the ground, sometimes to a depth of 1 m. It can use rodent holes, leaves, brushwood and stones as shelters. Overwinters on land, buried in the soil.
During breeding, the spadefoot spadefoot is active for 24 hours; the rest of the time - only at dusk and at night. It breeds in stagnant, non-drying bodies of water - ponds, ditches, sand quarries, pits. Spawning occurs in the second half of March - early June. There are usually from 400 to 3200 eggs in a clutch. The spadefoot tadpoles emerge from the eggs after 5–11 days.
The spadefoot moth feeds on spiders, centipedes, insects and earthworms.
Limiting factors. Not known.
Security measures taken. The spadefoot spadefoot is protected according to the Berne Convention (Appendix II).
The spadefoot spadefoot is a representative of tailless amphibians. These frogs live in Central Europe, in the south of Western Siberia, in the Crimea, in the North Caucasus, in Kazan and Leningrad.
They only reproduce in water bodies and spend the rest of their lives on land.
Spadefoots are excellent at digging, so during the day they burrow into the ground and in the evening they crawl out of their hiding places. Due to the fact that these frogs need to dig the ground, they do not live everywhere; rocky soils are not suitable for them; their habitat requires flat terrain with fairly loose sandy or clay soil.
A sandbox can completely bury itself in soft soil in 2-3 minutes. The frog digs the ground with its hind legs and plunges into the hole with its backside, vertically.
Because these frogs spend a lot of time underground, their lungs are not very well formed. They hunt at night, and the more wet air, the more active the spadefoots are. If the humidity is about 89% and the temperature stays within 10-15 degrees, then 11% of spade moths are active; if the humidity reaches 90-95% and the temperature remains the same, then this figure increases to 52%.
These frogs eat a huge variety of invertebrates. But basically, spadefoots prefer ants, spiders and ground beetles; these insects make up about 87% of the total diet. Spadefoot frogs differ from other frogs in that they practically do not feed in water bodies, since 99% of the diet consists of terrestrial food. When examining the stomachs of these frogs, no flying insects were found.
Among other amphibians, this species is the first to go into hibernation. The duration of hibernation is about 200 days. Spadefoot spadefish spend the winter on land, burrowing into the ground; they can also overwinter in rodent burrows and nests of shore swallows. Spadefoot spadefoots emerge from hibernation near Kiev in March, and in more northern regions a little later - in April or May.
Listen to the voice of the common spadefoot
Female spadefoot spade eggs lay in early spring, after they emerge from hibernation. They do not spend much time in reservoirs. The entire population lays eggs over a period of approximately 25 days. Male spadefoot spadefoots do not have “nuptial calluses,” as do male spadefoots. They call females by making a gurgling sound underwater.
The clutch of these frogs looks like thick cords consisting of outer shells, inside of which the eggs are randomly located. The eggs are laid underwater. These cords are attached to various underwater objects. The clutch of one female consists of 1200-2300 eggs, the diameter of which reaches 1.5-2.5 millimeters.
The tadpoles of these frogs take longer to develop than other species of amphibians; this process takes 90-110 days, and sometimes it takes even longer. The external gills of tadpoles disappear on the 7th day, and limbs begin to form on the 34th day. On the 67th day, joints appear in the hind legs. On the 92nd day, the front legs are formed, and on the 94th the tail disappears.
But spadefoot tadpoles grow faster than other amphibians. Their growth per day is about 1.2 millimeters. Before metamorphosis occurs, the tadpoles become so huge that their body length is 40% greater than the size of a mature female and amounts to 73-175 millimeters.
At first, tadpoles live at the bottom; during this period they are hardly noticeable. In the second half of life, tadpoles rise into the water column. Their diet consists of plant foods, so they have very long intestines. The length of the intestine is almost 6 times greater than the entire body. They eat plant foods, so they have a deep oral cavity, along the edges of which there is a large fringe, there is also a powerful horny beak and many teeth. These characteristics significantly distinguish spadefoot tadpoles from other amphibians. In the oral funnel, spadefoot tadpoles have 1100 teeth, which is 2 times more than in a tadpole
The spadefoot spadefoot (pelobatidae) is an amphibian animal that belongs to the subclass unshelled, superorder jumping, and order anuran.
This article describes amphibians from the spadefoot family (lat. Pelobatidae), genus of spadefoot spadefoots (lat. Pelobates). There is another family: horned spadefoots (lat. Megophryidae). It will be discussed in a separate article.
The reason for the appearance of the word “garlicfoot” is not known for certain. According to one version, the amphibian was named so because it is often found in beds among garlic. But most likely its name has a different origin. The smell of spadefoot skin secretions occasionally resembles the faint aroma of a pungent vegetable. By this feature it can be distinguished from other amphibians. This is the smell of the skin secreted by the spadefoot, with which it protects itself from approaching enemies. This smell creates an unpleasant sensation in the lungs of the attacker, so he often leaves hungry.
Garlic - description and photo. What does a spadefoot look like?
The spadefoot spadefoot is a small amphibian that looks like a cross between and. Length different types spadefoot varies from 4 to 10-11 cm, and the animal weighs 10-24 g. Its body is short and wide, divided into a head and torso. The pelobatid's neck is not pronounced, and the pectoral girdle is mobile.
The amphibian's skin is moist and smooth, with small flat tubercles. Like all amphibians, the spadefoot's integument is attached to the muscles and skeleton of the body not along its entire length, but only in some places. All unattached space under the skin is filled with lymph. From here the glands take moisture to produce mucus, which includes toxic substances. The amphibian needs venom to fight numerous microorganisms that attack its bare skin, and moisture is necessary for skin respiration.
On the head of the spadefoot spadefoot there are no parotid glands (parotids) and eardrums characteristic of toads. She also does not have vocal sacs (resonators). There is a bulge on the forehead, between the eyes of the animal (except for the Syrian spadefoot), and teeth are visible on the upper jaw. If you carefully examine the large protruding eyes of the amphibian, you will notice that its orange, golden or copper pupils are located vertically. The position of the spadefoot pupils indicates that it is a nocturnal animal.
Pelobatids have two pairs of well-developed legs, the front of which are four-toed. The five-toed, webbed hind limbs are 2–3 times longer than the forelimbs. They are used for jumping and swimming. Distinctive feature spadefoots are yellow-brown or black calluses on the hind legs (calcaneal tubercles), with the help of which animals burrow underground.
The back of spadefoots is gray, brown or yellow-brown with a symmetrical pattern of dark spots and (or) stripes. A bright light stripe may run along the back, and reddish spots are often scattered on the sides.
The lower part of the body of amphibians is light with spots of dark gray color, less often monochromatic. The spadefoot spadefoot needs discrete adaptive coloration in order to remain unidentified for as long as possible. If the surface of something is covered with spots of contrasting tones and irregular sizes, then the observer’s attention is attracted for a very long time by these spots, and not by the object itself on which they are located. A striking strip stretching along the back, instead of focusing attention on the animal, has a completely opposite effect. This line does not remind the casual eye of an amphibian at all, but rather of a stalk of grass or a branch. Next, she divides the shape of the spadefoot into two halves so that the attacker does not see it as a whole, but notices the configuration of its two halves. These halves are so different from the whole animal that the enemy’s brain cannot recognize it for a long time.
What do spadefoots eat?
Adult spadefoot moths eat more animal food and less plant foods. They feed on small insects and their larvae, arachnids, worms, centipedes, and mollusks. Their favorite foods are ground beetles and click beetles, earthworms And . Pelobatids also eat hymenoptera (ichneumon fly, sawfly larvae). They see only what moves and catch crawling, but not flying, individuals. They swallow victims alive, adjusting them in their mouths with their front paws. Sometimes, through the thin coverings of their bodies, you can see how the animals they swallowed are swarming in their stomachs.
Two spadefoots can hunt side by side until they spot the same prey at the same time. Then a fight breaks out between them. They bite and snatch the victim from each other's mouths. If one of them is full, then she will calmly give up the prey to her rival, and if she is hungry, then she will not pay attention to the bites.
In captivity, spadefoots refuse to take food for a long time. In a terrarium they can hide in a shelter and sit there forever until three months. Sometimes you even have to force feed the animal.
Where does the spadefoot live?
Researchers consider Western Asia to be the place where spadefoots appear. Lives here greatest number these animals. From here they spread to other parts of the world. Now their representatives can be found in Central Asia(in Kazakhstan), Europe (in Holland, France, Italy, Spain, etc.) and North Africa. There are two species of this family living in Russia - the common and Syrian spadefoot. They are found from St. Petersburg to Tyumen, without going north of 63° latitude. In the south of the country, their range reaches the Black Sea, the Caucasus and the border with Kazakhstan.
Previously, the pelobatid family included the spadefoot, so in many Soviet sources you can find mention of another species of spadefoot living in Russia, namely the Caucasian spadefoot (lat. Pelodytes caucasicus). Now it is classified as a separate family of crosses (lat. Pelodyttidae).
Spadefoots prefer open places with light sandy soil and often settle in arable lands and vegetable gardens. They can be found in broad-leaved and mixed forests, in the taiga, in meadows near rivers, in steppes, deserts and mountains.
Lifestyle of spadefoots
Despite the fact that spadefoots belong to the class of amphibians, they have adapted to life far from water. They can be found even in deserts. These are one of the most land-dwelling amphibians. Only green toads are attached to water, even less than spadefoots. Unlike frogs, pelobatids have well-developed lungs, and cutaneous respiration takes up a smaller percentage of them than other amphibians. Although their skin has become keratinized, keeping it moist remains very important factor. To protect themselves from drying out, spadefoots burrow into the ground during the day. They do this very quickly, in no more than 3 minutes. Actively spreading the ground with their hind paws, working with them in turn, they dive vertically downwards in a “column” to a depth of 15 cm to 1.5 m. With their front paws, the amphibians take the soil and seal the entrance to the hole with it. At the same time, they take in as much air as possible into their lungs, becoming twice as wide, so that they can then hold their breath for several hours. As night falls, spadefoots go out hunting. In cloudy weather they can be found on the surface during the day.
Spadefoots survive unfavorable periods by hibernating. To do this, they use rodent burrows or bank swallow nests. They often nest simply under fallen leaves, in the ground or under stumps. Spadefoots sleep in groups next to each other, but not together. They also survive in frozen ground. During hibernation, amphibians breathe only through their skin. Some species can hibernate for up to 11 months a year, emerging from their burrows only during the rainy season.
The cry of a disturbed spadefoot spadefoot is very loud and sharp, reminiscent of. When an amphibian is in pain, it makes sounds similar to cracking. Actively defending itself from attack, the spadefoot swells up, opens its mouth wide, rises on its paws above the ground and makes frightening sounds. At the same time, she can fight off enemies with her front paws. The hard heel mounds also serve as a means of protection. If the amphibian notices that an enemy is approaching from behind, then it forcefully throws out its hind leg, grabbing a pinch of sand, and throws it straight into the enemy’s eyes. The mucus of the spadefoot skin is toxic to small animals and microorganisms; in humans it causes minor irritation of the skin.
Reproduction and development of spadefoots
The breeding season of spadefoots begins in the spring, namely in March immediately after they awaken, but it can last until June if the water temperature remains low for a long time. At this time, amphibians are active both day and night. Mating of males and females occurs in non-drying bodies of water (ponds, ditches, quarries) at a water temperature of at least 8–10°C. Pelobatids prefer clean, slightly acidic water, but in the absence of such water they also breed in dirty puddles. The male spadefoot does not have true nuptial calluses. During the breeding season, oval glands appear on the shoulders, forearms or palms of the front legs, from which a watery liquid is released when pressed. The male grabs the female by the body in front of the hips and fertilizes the eggs released by her, making characteristic gurgling sounds. Spadefoot spadefish do not stay in water for long, and their entire breeding period takes from 5 to 10 days.
The life cycle of spadefoot moths consists of 3 stages:
- Eggs,
- Larvae,
- Adults.
The female lays up to 3,000 eggs in a clutch similar to a cord from 40 cm to 1 m long. She winds the rope with eggs onto aquatic plants as close to the surface as possible or lays it directly on the bottom of the reservoir. The diameter of the eggs laid is 1.5–2.5 mm. The duration of egg development depends on the temperature of the surrounding water, but on average it lasts about 7 days.
The larvae of spadefoot moths are tadpoles that look more like fish. They develop in 90 to 100 days, growing from 73 to 220 mm in length. Tadpoles are almost twice as large and heavier than adult spadefoot moths. Their tail looks like a huge blade, and on the left side of the body there is a gill opening (spiraculum). The tail often remains after the tadpole develops paws and their mouth turns into a mouth. The oral disc of the larva has oval shape and is surrounded on all sides (except the top) by labial papillae. Below and above their horny jaws (beak), labial teeth are randomly located in several rows.
Tadpoles grow quickly; in the first months they live at the bottom of the reservoir in the silt and feed on detritus. Then they move on to eating aquatic plants- eat algae and duckweed. Plant food makes up 80% of their diet. They receive the rest of their nutrition by eating small animals - protozoa (amoebas, ciliates), crustaceans, mollusks, rotifers. They would eat larger animals, but are unable to catch them. But if someone tears apart and eats their fellow tadpoles, they happily settle in and bite off pieces of them. Many larvae die when water bodies dry out or if they do not have time to develop before the onset of winter. But there are cases when at this stage they survived the cold season: it is these tadpoles that reach gigantic sizes.
After turning into an adult (metamorphosis), small spadefoot moths weighing up to 6 g and up to 10-33 mm long burrow into the ground right at the bottom or next to the reservoir and hide there until next spring. As the weather gets warmer, young animals begin to look for a place to live. Sexual maturity of spadefoots occurs 2, 3 or 4 years after their appearance in the form of eggs (different scientists give conflicting data).
Having appeared in the water, for the rest of its life the spadefoot has a dislike for bodies of water. To maintain skin moisture, it only needs rain, dew, soil moisture and its own secretions.
Life expectancy of spadefoot spadefoot
The life cycle of spadefoot moths in nature lasts just over 4 years. In captivity, cases of amphibians living up to 11 and even 15 years are known.
Enemies of the spadefoot in nature
- birds (magpies, gray crows, bitterns, red falcons);
- reptiles (aquatic and common);
- animals (marten, muskrat);
- green frogs;
- fish ( , ).
The benefits and harms of spadefoot
Happiness if the garlic moth settles in our garden or vegetable garden. At night, it eats huge quantities of invertebrates, most of which are pests of cultivated plants. In addition, it loosens the soil, helping plant roots to breathe.
Candidate for pet Among the frogs is the common spadefoot (Pelobates fuscus), a representative of a separate family of spadefoot spadefoots. This is a small amphibian up to 8 cm long, usually yellow-brown or light gray with brown and black spots and red dots. The common spadefoot got its name due to the fact that the skin sometimes begins to smell like garlic. The common spadefoot is found in areas with soft soil, as they like to burrow in the ground. Therefore, they can often be found in the fields, but only at night and mainly in wet weather or before its onset. The spadefoot burrows into the ground with the help of its hind legs, armed with a spade-shaped tubercle.
The spadefoot moves into water bodies only for the spawning period, that is, for 20-25 days. The female lays 1200-1800 eggs. Among all amphibians, the spadefoot has the longest hibernation - up to 200 days. Development lasts longer than in other amphibians - 90-110 days. Therefore, spadefoots can be an interesting object for studying the process of reproduction and development of amphibians.
Maintenance and care of common spadefoot
Young spadefoot tadpoles feed on plant food, adult spadefoot tadpoles feed on ants, ground beetles, spiders and insect larvae, which makes up 80% of their food. The spadefoot also takes great pleasure in eating earthworms, slugs and other invertebrates. It is recommended to maintain the same diet if you decide to keep the common spadefoot as a pet.
To keep the common spadefoot at home, a 30-liter terrarium with a mandatory separate reservoir is recommended, the water in which should preferably be changed daily. It is recommended to lay a 5-8 cm layer of earth, peat, tree bark at the bottom, and you can add a little sand. The presence of green plants is a must. For adult individuals, additional heating of the terrarium is not required; 15-20 °C with air humidity from 75 to 90% is sufficient. Because the spadefoot leads night image life, then the terrarium does not need to be equipped with lighting.
You can buy common spadefoot in pet stores or large poultry markets.
Common spadefoot - Pelobates fuscus(Laurenti, 1768)
(= Rana vespertina Pallas, 1771)
Appearance. Small amphibians; maximum body length 71 mm (in Europe up to 90 mm). Forehead convex between the eyes. Inner heel tubercle yellowish or light brown. Leather on the back and sides it is smooth, but there are small flat tubercles scattered throughout the body. Well developed between the toes of the hind legs swimming membrane. Above painted in gray or brown tones with a more or less symmetrical pattern of dark spots, sometimes forming stripes; the edges of the spots are clearly defined. A light stripe runs along the back. In addition, small reddish spots may occur mainly on the sides. The underparts are light, often with dark gray spots. Albinos (adults and larvae) are occasionally found.
Spreading. The species' range covers the central and eastern regions of Europe from eastern France, Belgium and Holland in the west to Western Siberia (Trans-Urals) and Kazakhstan in the east. The northern border in Europe runs through Denmark, the very south of Sweden, Poland, the southern border through the north of Italy, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria. In the territory former USSR the species is distributed from the outskirts of St. Petersburg through the Vologda, Vyatka regions, Udmurtia and Perm regions to the Tyumen region in the north and to the coast of the Black Sea, Crimea and the North Caucasus (to the south Krasnodar region, Chechnya and Dagestan) in the south. Absent in the lower reaches of the Volga, but lives on the Ural River up to the mouth. In the north-west of Kazakhstan it is found in the basins of the Ural, Emba, Irgiz and Turgai rivers. Central Asian finds of spadefoot larvae in Kazakhstan (Aral Sea), Uzbekistan (surroundings of Tashkent) and Kyrgyzstan (Chui Valley), geographically very remote from the species’ range, upon re-examination turned out to be giant tadpoles of the lake frog.
Taxonomy of the species. The species consists of 2 subspecies. Most of the range, including the territory of the former USSR, is occupied by the nominative subspecies, Pelobates fuscus fuscus(Laurenti, 1768). In northern Italy (Po Valley), another subspecies lives isolated, Pelobates fuscus insubricus Cornalia, 1873.
Habitat. Inhabits plains in forest, forest-steppe and steppe zones, preferring areas with loose soil. It rises up to 810 m above sea level (Czech Republic); in the Carpathian region up to 360 m. Although the spadefoot is primarily a resident of open landscapes, it can be found in quite a variety of habitats - in broad-leaved, mixed, coniferous (pine) forests, bush thickets, in floodplains of rivers and lakes, in meadows, in swamps, steppes, gardens, parks, fields, vegetable gardens, along roadsides, etc. In the south of their range, in areas with arid climates, spadefoots are associated with river valleys, which is why their distribution here is tapered. The presence of reservoirs and soft, loose soil determine the habitat of the species. The most striking feature of the spadefoot spade is its ability to quickly burrow into the soil using the hind limbs and large calcaneal tubercle as a shovel. Therefore, it is not surprising that it prefers light sandy soils, settles in cultivated fields, where its numbers can increase several times, but avoids rocky soil.
Activity. The common spadefoot spadefoot is a very dry-loving species. Found in water bodies only during the breeding season. During the day it leads a very secretive lifestyle, usually buried in the soil, sometimes to a depth of 1 m. It also uses rodent holes, moles, leaf litter, stones, fallen logs, etc. for shelter. During the breeding season, animals are active almost around the clock; outside it only at dusk and at night, and only occasionally can they be observed before sunset. In cloudy weather, spadefoots can be found in daylight hours days.
Reproduction. In the spring after wintering appears in mid-March - early May at air temperature 12-14°C and water temperature 8-10°C. It breeds, as a rule, in non-drying stagnant bodies of water - ponds, sand quarries, ditches, holes with fairly clear water and semi-aquatic vegetation, although eggs can also be found in temporary bodies of water (shallow puddles, ruts on the road, etc.).
Pairing usually occurs under water soon after the individuals arrive at the reservoir at a water temperature of 9-15°C. The spawning period covers the second half of March - early June. Laying eggs resembles a thick (1.5-2.0 cm) sausage-shaped cord with a length of 40 cm to 1 m, usually about 30-50 cm, which contains from 400 to 3200 eggs with a diameter of 1.5-2.5 mm. These cords are usually placed on plants near the surface of the water:
Hatching of larvae from caviar occurs in 5-11, usually 8 days. The hatched tadpoles are very small, only about 4-5 mm in length. They grow very quickly and before metamorphosis reach large sizes, sometimes up to 175 mm in total length (in Europe up to 220 mm). At first, tadpoles live in the bottom layer of the reservoir, but then they appear in the water column and near the surface. Larval development can last from 56 to 140 days. Many tadpoles dies when water bodies dry up, as well as in winter, if they do not have time to undergo metamorphosis, although there are known cases of successful wintering at the larval stage. The overall survival rate to the fingerling stage can be only up to \% of the laid eggs. The emergence of fingerlings from reservoirs begins in early July and can continue until the second half of September. After metamorphosis, the fingerlings are only 10-33 mm long and weigh up to 6 g. They live in the grass or on damp soil near a pond. They often spend the winter here, buried in the ground.
Sexual maturity occurs in the third year of life with a minimum length of about 41 mm for males and 43 mm for females. The sex ratio is approximately equal. In nature they live for at least 4 years.
Nutrition. They feed mainly on various terrestrial insects: beetles, especially ground beetles and click beetles, butterfly caterpillars, etc., as well as spiders, centipedes, and earthworms. Tadpoles feed on detritus in the first two months of their development, and then switch mainly to plant foods, which can account for up to 79%. They scrape algae from the surface of aquatic plants, stones or other objects, but can also swallow whole leaves of duckweed floating on the surface of a reservoir. Animal food (protozoa, rotifers, crustaceans and small mollusks) appears to be an obligatory component of the diet, although insignificant in volume.
Wintering. Spadefoots go to winter in September-October. They winter on land, burrowing into the ground or using rodent burrows, often also in wells and cellars.
Abundance and conservation status. The common spadefoot is not one of the rare species, and in some places it reaches high numbers. Found in many nature reserves. As a rare species on the border of its range, it is listed in the Red Book of Estonia, but is not included in the Red Books of the USSR and other republics. Protected by the Berne Convention (Annex II). There is no threat to the existence of the species. The ecology of the species has not been sufficiently studied.
Similar species. It differs from the closely related Syrian spadefoot in the shape of its forehead (“bump”) and more strongly developed membranes on the hind limbs. Although the ranges of both species in the territory of the former USSR are geographically isolated, they are located close to each other in the Danube Delta region and in Dagestan.
At the Ecosystem Ecological Center you can purchase color identification table " Amphibians and reptiles of central Russia"and a computer identification of amphibians (amphibians) of Russia, as well as others teaching materials on aquatic fauna and flora(see below).
