Chiromantis xerampelina

The Grey foam-nest tree frog (Chiromantis xerampelina) is an arboreal species of about 9 cm present in the arid or semi-arid zones of south-eastern Africa. The limbs have adhesive discs for climbing and the wrinkled skin of the back, almost waterproof, reduces the evaporation, becoming white when it is hot, to reflect the light, and dark to warm up if they feel cold. They spend the times of drought estivating. To protect the not waterproof belly they stick with a sealant mucus on a suitable support, after having conveyed all the water available inside this hollow space. To reproduce they move to the trees facing pools or temporary poles and secrete from the cloaca, in group, a thick and foamy liquid in order to create a nest where the female, helped also by a dozens of fertilizing males, lays the eggs. They hatch after 4-5 days and the tadpoles fall in the water to complete their development © Giuseppe Mazza