Description
A medium-sized Hyperolius (males 21–31 mm, females 26–34 mm) from the forest belt in the western and central part of West Africa. Males with an hourglass pattern and/or broad dorsolateral stripes, females with a uniform dorsum and often with broad light dorsolateral stripes and dark flanks. Pupil horizontal.

Hyperolius picturatus is a very variable species, especially from population to population. Perhaps two sympatric species are involved, one of which is large with an ill-defined gular flap, known from eastern Sierra Leone to eastern Côte d’Ivoire, and a smaller form known from eastern Sierra Leone to Ghana. In morphology this latter form seems to point towards the western H. occidentalis and the eastern H. baumanni as subspecies.

In the field Hyperolius picturatus can be distinguished from H. concolor by its smaller size and shorter snout. H. fusciventris is smaller with different colours. H. v. nitidulus from the savanna has a shorter snout and a much larger gular flap.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone

	View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
	View Bd and Bsal data (3 records).

Distributed from eastern Sierra Leone to central Ghana in the forest belt. If two species are involved, the one may be restricted to the western part, from Sierra Leone to eastern Côte d’Ivoire.

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
The males call from well-concealed positions in bushes, so although not uncommon tracing them can be very difficult. The voice consists of an initial sound followed by a series of clicks. It has a frequency-intensity maximum of 3500–4200 cps, the pitch depending on the size of the calling male.

The eggs have a black and a white pole; the jelly is clear.

Comments
This account was taken from "Treefrogs of Africa" by Arne Schiøtz with kind permission from Edition Chimaira publishers, Frankfurt am Main.

References

Schiøtz, A. (1999). Treefrogs of Africa. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2008 Hyperolius picturatus <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/564> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Nov 30, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 30 Nov 2024.

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