Written by Jade Walton, Transforming Lives Trainee
Now that spring is well under way, we have entered a very exciting time in the life cycles of our native amphibian species. As slightly warmer weather hits, our amphibians leave their overwintering sites and head to ponds to breed. Now we are in April, many of our amphibians will have laid their eggs, so now is the perfect time to spot the spawn in your local ponds!
Here is a quick guide to the eggs and breeding rituals of some of our native amphibians:
Common Frog
Potentially as early as January in the South East of England, and up to April in other areas of the UK, the common frog will emerge from their winter hideouts and head back to a pond. Male frogs will ‘piggy back’ on their chosen female using their nuptial pads to hold on tightly. This is a process known as ‘amplexus’. He will then fertilise her spawn as she lays it. Common frog eggs are laid in clumps, with up to 2,000 eggs laid in one single clump. Female frogs can lay up to 4,000 eggs over one breeding season.
Common Toad
Common toads will ritually return to the same pond for breeding each year where possible. They take advantage of warmer, damp spring evenings to leave their overwintering sites and return to their specific pond. This behaviour makes them notorious for crossing roads over night and putting themselves at risk of being run over. Our Toads on Roads project gathers wonderful volunteers across the UK to assist the toads in their road crossing journeys, saving many toad lives in the process! Once they enter the pond, much like with common frogs, male toads will ‘piggy back’ on to a female (amplexus). The spawn of the common toad is laid in long double strings, strewn around underwater plants (rather than in clumps). The natterjack toad lays eggs in a single strand!
Newts
Once the warmer weather of spring hits, newts too will venture back to a suitable pond to breed and lay eggs. Males of each newt species will perform elaborate ‘dances’ to attract the attention of females, who will choose which male gets to fertilise their eggs. Newt eggs are laid in a very different way to toads and frogs. A female newt will lay each egg individually, she will lay the egg on the leaf of an aquatic plant and carefully fold the leaf around the egg to protect it, giving the leaf a very straight edge where it has been folded over. Newts lay less eggs than their toad and frog counterparts, but females will still lay hundreds over the season.
When out and about, see if you can spot any amphibian eggs in your local area and remember to record them on our free Dragon Finder App!
