''Microhyla achatina'', commonly known as the Javan chorus frog, Java rice frog, or Javanese narrow-mouthed frog, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of narrow-mouthed frog

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, Indonesia.

Description

''Microhyla achatina'' is a small species with a narrow head. Its eyes are small and the feet have partially webbed digits. Males have a snout-to-vent length around and females are a little larger. It is yellowish brown on the

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

side with two dark stripes, with a symmetric arrow-shaped mark and sometimes a narrow pale line along the spine. The sides are dark.

Habitat and distribution

This is a frog of

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

, sometimes found around human developments, such as paddy fields and

forest garden Agroforestry (also known as agro-sylviculture or forest farming) is a land use management system that integrates trees with crops or pasture. It combines agricultural and forestry technologies. As a polyculture system, an agroforestry system can ...

s. This species is found at altitudes up to above sea level. This frog is endemic to

and is found in the central and western parts of the island.

Biology

The diet of this frog consists of

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...

s and many other tiny

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s. It breeds in ponds, permanent pools or

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

y areas and the males call at night, several neighboring frogs making a chorus and producing a song that sounds like the sounds made by

crickets Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets and more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms,Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) ''A General Textbook of Entomology'' 9th Ed. Methuen 886 ...

. The call has a frequency of between 3 and 3.2 kHz, with a pulse rate of 14–20 pulses per second, and a duration of less than a second. Females lay small clutches of about 20

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

Status

This frog has a relatively wide range and the population seems to be stable so the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

rates it as being of "

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

" as it considers that the rate of decline, if any, is insufficient to justify listing it in a more threatened category. It is to some extent tolerant of

forest degradation Forest degradation is a process in which the biological wealth of a forest area is permanently diminished by some factor or by a combination of factors. "This does not involve a reduction of the forest area, but rather a quality decrease in its c ...

and no particular threats to this species have been identified.

Pictures

Image:Mihyla achat 070403 3375 tdp.jpg, In Darmaga, Bogor Image:Mihyla achat 070403 3324 tdp.jpg Image:Mihyla achat 070403 3320 tdp.jpg, Image:Mihyla achat 060616 7637 cromb.jpg, Male at his calling hole, a dried paddyfield in Kuningan

References

* Iskandar, D.T. 1998. ''Amfibi Jawa dan Bali''. Puslitbang Biologi LIPI, Bogor. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2708314

achatina ''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: Wor ...

Amphibians of Indonesia Endemic fauna of Java Amphibians described in 1838 Taxa named by Johann Jakob von Tschudi