Description
A new name for what has traditionally (but wrongfully) called Leptopelis hyloides. The type of L. hyloides is, however, a L. viridis.

A rather small forest-living Leptopelis (males 30-35 mm, females 46-49 mm) from West Africa with more webbing than L. viridis, less than L. occidentalis. Dorsum brown or grey with a darker hour-glass pattern.

The tadpole is eel-shaped and darkly pigmented. Maximum length 34 mm (12 + 22). The mouth is small, situated anteriorly on the ventral side of the snout. Tooth formula 1, 3+3/3.

Distribution and Habitat

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

	View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
	View Bd and Bsal data (8 records).

Abundant in the forest belt throughout West Africa as far as Cross River in eastern Nigeria.

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors

The voice has two elements, a clack and a quiet buzzing. The clack has a very indistinct frequency-intensity maximum at 3000 cps., audibly higher than the voice of the similar L. viridis. The buzzing consists of 15-20 figures at a rate of about 60 per second and an indistinct frequency-intensity maximum at 2500-3000 cps.

The eggs are large, unpigmented, and yolk-filled and develop very slowly.

References

Rödel, M. O. (2007). ''The identity of Hylambates hyloides and description of a new small species of Leptopelis from West Africa.'' Mitt. Mus. Nat. Berlin, Zool., 83, 90-100.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2008 Leptopelis spiritusnoctis <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/6938> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Dec 23, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 23 Dec 2024.

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