Litoria rubella

Conservation Status

Calling Period

Description

A medium-sized species of frog reaching up to 4.5 cm in body length. It has a red-brown, brown, cream, or pale grey back, with or without darker patches or mottling. There is a dark brown stripe from the tip of the snout to the groin, sometimes ending at the arm, or becoming patches at the side. The belly is white to cream, and uniform in colour, and the male has a grey throat. The pupil is horizontal and the iris is gold to copper-brown. The groin is sometimes pale yellow to dull orange, occasionally with dark mottling. Fingers are slightly webbed and toes are half webbed, both with large discs.  Until 2025, the distribution of this species was considered to extend throughout approximately 60% of continental Australia, from eastern QLD and NSW to the top half of WA. However, a study led by the University of Western Australia and co-authored by researchers from the Australian Museum used a combination of morphological, genetic, and acoustic analyses to describe two new species from the Pilbara region of WA and from eastern NSW and QLD – Litoria larisonans and Litoria pyrina. FrogID recordings were used in this research, and will be vital to helping us further understand the boundaries of this species’ distribution, particularly where it overlaps with the newly-described Litoria pyrina

Breeding Biology

Eggs are laid as small clusters that are attached to vegetation near the surface of the water in ponds, dams, flooded ditches, and most other available still fresh water bodies. Tadpoles can reach a total length of up to 5.5 cm, and are grey-brown in colour, sometimes with many black spots. They often swim in the mid-depths and surface areas of water bodies, and take around one month to develop into frogs. Breeds during spring to autumn. 

Similar Species

Looks similar to Litoria electrica in its distribution, but lacks the darker horizontal V-shaped or butterfly-shaped patches on its back and has a different call.