Adults. Males to 26 mm, females to 32 mm. Back is variable in colour and pattern, often bright green, but can be bronze or fawn, occasionally with scattered darker spots. The back is smooth and the white belly is granular (grainy). A bronze stripe runs from the tip of the snout, at least to the eye, but often extending through the eye and along the sides of the body. If the back is bronze or fawn, there are often patches of green on the top of the head and green bands along the sides of the body. A white stripe runs from under the eye to the shoulder. Body is slender, head is narrow, and snout is pointed. Tympanum (eardrum) is clearly visible below a fold of skin behind the eye. Pupil is horizontal and iris is gold. Inner surfaces of the long and slender legs and the groin are orange. Fingers are webbed at the base, toes are almost three-quarters webbed, both with small pads only just wider than the digit.

Larvae. Tadpoles can reach a length of 48 mm. Body is cylindrical and translucent gold or olive-brown in colour. When viewed from the side, top half of the body is dark, while lower half is silver-white. Snout is short, broad, and rounded. Iris is solid copper-gold. Tail is taller than the body and strongly arched, tapering to an elongated and very fine tip. Fins vary from mostly clear to strongly marbled, clear and dark. The muscle shows a similar range of colouration. Tadpoles metamorphose from January-April, two and a half to four and a half months after hatching.¹

Eggs. 200-300 eggs are laid as many small clusters of up to 35 eggs each, attached to vegetation near the surface of the water in swamps, permanent ponds, and dams. Hatching begins three to five days after eggs are laid.¹

Habitat. Inhabits vegetation, especially reeds and floating plants, in a wide range of habitats from ponds to small creeks, dams, lagoons, open forests, and swamps.

Artificial Pond

Tamborine Mountain, QLD

Artificial Pond

Tamborine Mountain, QLD

The species is highly adaptable and has naturalised on the Pacific island of Guam, possibly as a stowaway in shipments of fruits and vegetables from Australia,^2,4,15 which is also likely how it became established in Victoria, outside its natural range.^5,11

Diet. Feeds on flying insects and other small invertebrates.

Predation & Defence. Likely predators include reptiles, birds, and mammals. The Keelback (Tropidonophis mairii)^8,12 is known to eat adults and juveniles and the Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki),^13,14 crayfish (Cherax sp.)¹⁴, and Firetail Gudgeon (Hypseleotris galii)¹⁴ are known to eat tadpoles. Tadpole mortality has also been associated with trail-bikers.⁹

The skin glands of this species contain nine peptides (like small proteins), called fallaxidins, which have some antibiotic properties, but are not as potent as the peptides found on the skin of the other tree frogs in the genus Litoria.⁷

Call is a squeaky, high-pitched ‘wr-e-e-ek’ with an upward inflection, either given on its own or followed by two shorter ‘kip kip’ notes. Males often call from tall reeds or other vegetation during and after rain. Calling males may also use visual signals, like foot-flagging and leg-flicking, often preceding fighting with other males.¹⁰ Peak breeding season is October-February, but can breed any time of the year.

Least Concern (IUCN Red List 2004)

Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.⁶

Not Listed nationally (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999)

Least Concern in Queensland (Nature Conservation Act 1992)

1. Anstis, M. (2017). Tadpoles and Frogs of Australia. Second Edition. New Holland Publishers, Sydney.
2. Christy, M.T., Savidge, J.A., & Rodda, G.H. (2007). Multiple pathways for invasion of anurans on a Pacific island. Diversity and Distributions 13: 598-607.
3. Cogger, H.G. (2018). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Updated 7th Edition. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
4. Falanruw, M.V.C. (1976). Life on Guam: Savanna, Old Fields, Roadsides. Guam Department of Education, Guam. 
5. Gillespie, G.R. & Clemann, N. (2000). The Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog Litoria fallax (Peters) (Anura: Hylidae): a recent introduction to Victoria? The Victorian Naturalist 117(2): 60-62.
6. Hero, J.-M., Meyer, E. & Clarke, J. (2004). Litoria fallax (errata version published in 2018). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T41091A136563082 
   https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T41091A10387698.en. Downloaded on 18 April 2020.
7. Jackway, R.J., Bowie, J.H., Bilusich, D., Musgrave, I.F., Surinya-Johnson, K.H., Tyler, M.J. & Eichinger, P.C.H. (2008). The fallaxidin peptides from the skin secretion of the Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog Litoria fallax. Sequence determination by positive and negative ion electrospray mass spectrometry: antimicrobial activity and cDNA cloning of the fallaxidins. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 22: 3207-3216.
8. Llewelyn, J., Bell, K., Schwarzkopf, L., Alford, R.A. & Shine, R. (2012). Ontogenetic shifts in a prey’s chemical defences influence feeding responses of a snake predator. Oecolgia 169: 965-973.
9. Metcalfe, D.C. (2014). Larval Dwarf Green Tree Frogs (Litoria fallax) crushed by trail-bikes. The Victorian Naturalist 132(4): 118-119.
10. Meyer, E., Murray, K.A., & Hines, H.B. (2012). Further observations of visual signalling in Australo-Papuan hylid frogs of the genus Litoria (Tschudi). Australian Zoologist 36(1): 55-58.
11. Michael, D.R. & Johnson, G. (2016). Notes on a naturalised population of the Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog Litoria fallax (Peters) (Anura: Hylidae) in north-east Victoria. The Victorian Naturalist. 133(6): 202-204.
12. Pearcy, A. (2011). Selective feeding in Keelback snakes Tropidonophis mairii in an Australian wetland. Australian Zoologist 35(3): 843-845.
13. Remon, J., Bower, D.S., Gaston, T.F., Clulow, J. & Mahony, M.J. (2016). Stable isotope analyses reveal predation on amphibians by a globally invasive fish (Gambusia holbrooki). Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 26(4): 724-735.
14. Simpkins, C.A. (2013). Abiotic and biotic factors influencing the assemblage of tadpoles and adult anurans in coastal wallum habitats in eastern Australia. Masters thesis, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland.
15. Zug, G.R. & Fisher, R.N. (2018). Amphibians of the Pacific: natural history and conservation. In Status of Conservation and Decline of Amphibians: Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands, eds. H. Heatwole & J. J.L. Rowley, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
16. Atlas of Living Australia occurrence download at https://doi.org/10.26197/5e9a2fc401f43 accessed on Sat Apr 18 08:37:47 AEST 2020.