Forest Green Tree Frog

Fascinating facts about the Forest Green Tree Frog

• Between 10 m and 2,350 m above sea level, this Japanese tree frog lives from lowland forests up to higher elevations, showing how a single species can thrive across a 2-kilometre elevation span.
• During breeding, the frogs craft a sponge-like foam nest that hangs from a branch over water; when tadpoles hatch they drop straight into the pond below.
• In 2023, Gary Miller of Sparsholt College achieved the first UK captive breeding of this species.
• Tourists visit the foam nests that appear over ponds in late spring to observe the breeding pools in the frog’s natural habitat.

At a glance

About the Forest Green Tree Frog

The forest green tree frog, Zhangixalus arboreus, has a vivid emerald dorsum, sometimes speckled with subtle spots, and a contrasting white belly dotted with brown. Adult males measure 42–60 mm and females 59–82 mm in snout-vent length, their front feet are more webbed than the hind feet. Their eyes have a red-brown iris. In the breeding season, these arboreal amphibians gather over ponds, marshes, or slow-flowing streams, suspending foam nests from twigs; the foam protects the eggs until the tadpoles hatch and plunge into the water below. Occasionally, the frogs misplace their foam nests over artificial water bodies such as swimming pools, wells, or rain-filled buckets. Human tourists also visit Z. arboreus breeding pools in rural Japan in late spring. While rarely seen in the exotic pet trade, most individuals are wild-caught, and captive breeding has begun in Japan, South Korea, and, notably, in 2023 at Sparsholt College in the UK.

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