Black-spotted Pond Frog

Fascinating facts about the Black-spotted Pond Frog

• First catalogued in 1861, the black-spotted pond frog now spans the lowlands of eastern China, the Amur valley, Korea, and most of Japan, yet you’ll never find one above 2,200 m, even on towering mountains.
• A male measures just 62 mm (2.4 in) from snout to vent, while a female reaches 74 mm (2.9 in), making the females noticeably larger despite their shared webbed toes and dark spots.
• After hibernating, these frogs breed within weeks; a single female can dump anywhere from 1,800 up to 5,000 eggs into shallow water, a reproductive burst that can fill a small pond in days.
• They can eat the Asian giant hornet without any ill effect, thanks to a resistance to the hornet’s venom, a rare immunity that lets them feast on one of the world’s most feared insects.
• Though once abundant enough to be a staple food on the Korean Peninsula for centuries, modern hunting and water pollution now threaten their numbers, turning a once-common amphibian into a conservation concern.

At a glance

About the Black-spotted Pond Frog

The black-spotted pond frog, Pelophylax nigromaculatus, is a striking true frog of East Asia, its dorsal canvas shifting from muted grey to olive-green hues punctuated by bold dark spots, a light mid-dorsal line, and twin dorso-lateral streaks. Adult males reach about 62 mm and females 74 mm in snout-vent length, their webbed toes and paired vocal sacs ready for the chorus that follows hibernation. In the shallow, stagnant pools where they breed, the females deposit massive clutches, sometimes up to 5,000 eggs, into the water, a reproductive strategy that can sustain populations across deserts, bushland, meadows, and forests, provided the water remains still enough for the tadpoles to develop. Their diet is opportunistic, even including the formidable Asian giant hornet; remarkably, the frog is impervious to the hornet’s venom, allowing it to consume this dangerous prey without harm. These amphibians are low-altitude specialists, never venturing above 2,200 m, and they thrive from the Amur River valley of Russia through mainland eastern-northeastern China, the Korean Peninsula (including Ulleungdo Island), and most of Japan, excluding Hokkaidō and the Ryukyu Islands. Introduced populations now linger on Oahu, Saipan, and even Turkmenistan, testifying to their adaptability. Yet, despite a tolerance for human-altered landscapes, the species faces mounting pressures from relentless hunting, centuries-old on the Korean Peninsula, and escalating water pollution, which threatens the very habitats that sustain their complex life cycle.

More other animals to discover

Browse Feravox