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Moor frog

A frog that turns blue during the mating season

The moor frog is a very interesting frog. In early spring, the male turns blue. The more intense the colour, the more females it will win and thus ensure offspring.

Source: Pixabay

Moor frog (Rana arvalis)

Size	3 to 6 cm
Weight	up to 40 g
Diet	snails, ants, beetles, earthworms and other invertebrates
Habitat	lowland species, northeast and southeast of Slovenia up to 260 m above sea level

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Amphibia
Order	Anura
Family	Ranidae
Genus	Rana
Species	Rana arvalis

The moor frog is rarer than other species of brown frogs. Yes, you read that right. The moor frog has smooth skin of greyish, yellowish or brown colour with a dark pattern and no green tints. The abdomen is most often pale and without spots.

It is named after its colour at the time of mating. At that time, it turns blue and attracts females.

In the spring, when the moor frog emerges from its hiding places, it, like other frogs, heads to nearby ponds and forest puddles to spawn. At this time, males call loudly, "sing," and attract females. The male then embraces the female, who can lay up to 3,000 eggs, which the male fertilizes continuously. The eggs develop into tadpoles, which then turn into small frogs.

The moor frog's habitat includes lowland marshy meadows and floodplain forests, shallow standing water, and pools where it breeds and lays eggs. It avoids intensively cultivated agricultural areas.

It feeds on snails, ants, beetles, earthworms, centipedes, caterpillars, fly larvae and other terrestrial invertebrates.

The frog is included in the Red List of Amphibians of Slovenia.

Source: Pixabay

DID YOU KNOW?

Every year around March, the Kozjansko and Obsotelje Biosphere Reserve you can experience large numbers of moor froogs which gathers there to breed.
We are home to 13 species of frogs.
In the past, frogs were often hunted for the profit they brought from frog legs.