The Suweon treefrog is a small tree frog found only on the Korean Peninsula, where it breeds in rice paddies on lowland plains. It looks almost identical to the common Japanese treefrog and is best told apart by its slower, metallic call. It does not live in the wild in the US.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A tiny green tree frog about 1–1.4 in (2.5–3.5 cm) long, with a brown stripe running from the nostril through the eye to the side of the body. Males have a yellow .
- Voice
- Males call from inside rice paddies during the breeding season, clinging to the rice plants.
Look-alikes
Japanese treefrogHyla japonica
The Suweon treefrog is slightly smaller with less webbing between its toes, and its call is slower and more metallic. They are very hard to tell apart in photos.
Why they get mixed upBoth are small green tree frogs that share the same rice paddies in Korea.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Rice paddies
- Lowland wetlands
- Range
- to the Korean Peninsula, mainly in the western lowlands of South Korea. It is not found in the United States.
- Preferred conditions
- Depends on rice paddies for breeding; it is not known to breed at any natural wetland site.
Behavior
- Diet
- Insects such as flies, bees, butterflies, and beetles.
Life cycle
- Breeding season
- May–July
- Nest
- Eggs are laid in flooded rice paddies.
Name and classification
- About the name
- In 2020, frogs from the southern part of the range were described as a separate species, the yellow-bellied tree frog (Dryophytes flaviventris), though a 2025 genetic study found no clear difference between the two. Some researchers have also suggested it is the same species as the Chinese Dryophytes immaculatus.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- ENEndangeredVery high risk of extinction in the wild
- Status
- Its range is small and shrinking as farmland is developed. Chytrid fungus, a disease that has hit frogs worldwide, is also common in its populations.
More species to explore
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