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Dryophytes wrightorum (Taylor, 1938)

Other names for this frog include Hyla wrightorum, and it was long confused with the Mountain Treefrog, Hyla eximia. Adults are 37 to 48 mm SUL, and metamorphs are 10 to13 mm SUL.  Adults are green, with a dark brown or black stripe extending from the snout, through the eye, and onto the body.  The ventral side of the groin and upper leg are orange to gold with a greenish tint.  The upper lip has a white stripe, but not the dark-edged white spot seen in the Canyon Treefrog.  The skin is smooth.  New metamorphs are brown but change to green in a few days.  The fingers lack webbing, but the toes are webbed.  The call is a low-pitched metallic trill that lasts 0.15 to 0.24 seconds and is repeated.  Choruses are usually short in duration.The species occurs from central Arizona and western New Mexico southward in the Sierra Madre Occidental to Michoacán, Mexico.  In Arizona it occurs on the central plateau north of the Mogollon Rim with disjunct populations in the Huachuca Mountains and Canelo Hills in southeastern Arizona.Outside of the breeding season they are in pine-oak and coniferous forests and in meadows near streams between 900 and 2,900 m ASL.  During the breeding season they move to water, but their migrations are not well documented.  They overwinter in forest floor debris.Monsoon rains trigger males to call a few nights after the rains start.  Breeding sites tend to be grassy ponds, but they may also use permanent water, or any place rainwater collects.  Larvae have been reported from 21 June to 6 November, and metamorphs are present in September and October.  They share breeding sites with the Arizona Toad, Canyon Treefrog, Boreal Chorus Frog, leopard frogs, and several species of spadefoots.Biology reportedly includes a variety of invertebrates, beetles, spiders, and small earthworms.  Tiger salamanders use some of the same breeding sites, and their larvae are significant predators on these populations of tadpoles.  Other predators include water bugs, crayfish, bullfrogs, and gartersnakes.The noxious skin secretion of this species has been reported to cause a burning sensation on mucus membranes.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]