Outwardly, the common spadefoot is a copy of the common frog. Common spadefoot - Pelobates fuscus

common spadefoot
scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animals
Type:	chordates
Class:	Amphibians
Squad:	tailless
Family:	spadewort
Genus:	spadewort
View:	common spadefoot
International scientific name
Pelobates fuscus(Laurenti, 1768)
View in taxonomic databases
CoL

common spadefoot, or fathead grass(lat. Pelobates fuscus) is a species of the spadefoot family.

Description

The sizes are small - 70-80 mm; the head is large, the body is stocky, the hind limbs are relatively short. The skin is smooth, from above it is colored in light gray or brownish color with brown or blackish spots of various sizes and red dots. A light stripe always runs along the back. The belly is light, often with dark gray spots. The characteristic features of the external appearance of the spadefoot are the vertical pupil and the bulge of the forehead between the eyes, as well as the garlic smell - a poisonous secret of the skin glands, which is toxic to small animals, and in humans only causes irritation of the mucous membranes. It is for the specific smell of this secret that the spadefoot got its name. Marriage calluses in males are not located on the fingers, as in most tailless amphibians, but on the shoulders.

Spreading

The range of the common spadefoot is within the borders of Central and Eastern Europe, Western Asia. In the Saratov region, it lives everywhere, but in the Right Bank it has a higher abundance.

Habitat and lifestyle

Larva of common spadefoot

It occurs in mixed and deciduous forests, in agrolandscapes (fields, vegetable gardens, orchards). In the Trans-Volga region, it settles in the floodplains of rivers, along the banks of various reservoirs.

The common spadefoot is one of the most terrestrial species among the amphibians of the Saratov region. Leads a terrestrial twilight-night lifestyle, visiting the reservoir only during the reproductive period. During the day they are active in water bodies during spawning and in rainy weather. During the day, amphibians burrow into the ground with the help of their hind limbs with a large calcaneal tuber, as well as the distal part of the urostyle. Within 2-5 minutes they burrow, as a rule, to a depth of 10-15 cm, where it is not as dry and hot as on the surface. Under the ground, the spadefoot is located in a horizontal position. In connection with a similar way of life, spadeworts prefer soils of light mechanical composition (sands, sandy loams, loams, cultivated fields).

In spring they appear in late March - early April. For breeding, they choose permanent, non-drying reservoirs (lakes, flooded pits, etc.) with clean water and rich vegetation. Sometimes it can be found in small pits, in small puddles, ditches, road ruts filled with melt water.

During mating, the male grabs the female by the body in front of the hips (inguinal amplexus). Reproduction is carried out under water at a temperature of +8°C and above. At the same time, males make gurgling sounds like “knock ... knock ... knock”. Spawning continues until the end of May - the first decade of June. The masonry is a cord up to 1 m long, more often 35-50 cm, consisting of 350-3200 eggs with a diameter of 1.5-2.5 mm.

After about 5-9 days, tadpoles 4-5 mm long appear. Their gill opening (spiracculum) is located on the left side of the body and is directed back and up. The anus is located in the midline of the body. The oral disc of tadpoles is oval in shape, surrounded by labial papillae almost on all sides (except for the notch on top). The denticles are randomly arranged in several rows of intermittent and solid rows above and below the horny jaws (beak). The upper fin of the tail is high; the end of the tail is pointed. Tadpoles first stay in the bottom part of the reservoir, and then, having reached a length of four to five centimeters, they appear in the water column and at its surface. Larval development can last from 58 to 140 days. Before metamorphosis (the transformation of a larva into an adult animal), the length of the tadpole is one and a half times the size of females. The emergence of young individuals 15-35 mm long from water bodies is observed from the first half of July to the end of August. They stay in damp areas (in grass, leaf litter, under stones, fallen trees, etc.) near water bodies. Sexual maturity occurs in the 3rd year of life.

Adult individuals as shelters, in addition to their own holes, use the holes of rodents. At the sight of danger, the spadefoot takes a defensive posture - they swell up, rise on their paws, sometimes open their mouths, and make sounds.

Spadeworts leave for wintering at the end of September - October. They hibernate on land, burrowing into the ground or using rodent burrows, sometimes in wells and cellars.

Nutrition

The food composition of the spadefoot is quite diverse and is largely determined by the seasonal dynamics of the fauna of habitat prey. Spadeworts feed in the evening and at night (from 21-22 to 2-4 hours). The increase in the degree of their nocturnal activity depends not only on the ambient temperature, but also on humidity: the higher the humidity, the more active they are. The value of the daily ration ranges from 200 mg in spring (April) and autumn (October), to 400 mg in summer (June - August). For the entire active period, one spadefoot produces more than 2000 animals and utilizes 80-100 g of biomass. The basis of the diet of amphibians are hemipterans, beetles, hymenoptera, arachnids and other invertebrates. At the same time, most of the prey is made up of animals weighing 5-20 mg and a body length of 6-15 mm.

The main food of tadpoles at the first time of their development is detritus, and then they switch mainly to plant foods, which can be up to 70%.

Limiting factors and status

The enemies of spadefoot are reptiles (ordinary and water snakes), birds (great bittern, gray heron, red-footed falcon, gray crow, magpie, etc.) and mammals (desman, common fox, stone and forest martens, etc.), in some cases their eat fish (common pike, perch). A huge number of tadpoles die from the drying up of water bodies.

The common spadefoot is not among the rare species of the Saratov region, and in some places it reaches a high abundance. Protected by the Berne Convention (Annex II). The species does not need special protection measures.

Literature

• Fauna of the Saratov region. Book. 4. Amphibians and reptiles: Proc. allowance / G. V. Shlyakhtin, V. G. Tabachishin, E. V. Zavyalov, I. E. Tabachishina. - Saratov: Sarat Publishing House. un-ta, 2005. - S. 21-24

Mushrooms of the Rtishchevsky district Fauna of the Rtishchevskiy district Red Book of the Saratov Region People of the city and region Administrative-
territorial division History of the Rtishchevo region Economy Education and science

Common spadefoot (lat. Pelobates fuscus) is a tailless amphibian from the Spadefoot family (lat. Pelobatidae). It is often referred to as the fat-headed herb. She has no ribs and teeth of the upper jaw, and a large tongue with the front part has grown to the lower jaw.

Spreading

Spadeworms live on plains with a loose sandy or clayey soil layer. These amphibians can be found on the moors, among the dunes, in gardens and orchards. For their dwellings, they dig minks in loose soil or use underground tunnels laid by other rodents.

The amphibian does not like to settle on hills; it cannot be seen above 400 meters above sea level. Near her dwelling there must be a reservoir in which she can lay her eggs.

Outside the mating season, the spadefoot avoids damp places and rocky soils. Its habitat extends to Eastern and Central Europe, Western Asia.

reproduction

During the mating season from April to July, the spadefoot goes to the reservoir and spends about a week in it, mating and spawning. The rainier the summer, the longer the breeding season lasts.

The masonry looks like a thin sausage, 40 to 70 cm long and up to 2 cm thick. It contains up to 3,000 eggs. Cords of eggs envelop plants or can freely lie on the bottom.

Young tadpoles are reddish in color, while older ones are golden brown. For feeding, they hang vertically and collect the food they need from the surface of the water. In shallow water, they swim very rarely.

As soon as the front legs appear on the tadpoles, they come to land and hide underground or behind stones until the tail falls off. The development process lasts from 3 to 5 months, and the late brood develops until June of the following year. After metamorphosis, juveniles grow up to 3.5 cm. Sexual maturity in spadefoot occurs at the age of 2-3 years.

Behavior

Common spadefoot is one of those amphibians that are nocturnal and feel great on land. During summer travels, she leaves the nearest body of water for a distance of more than 600 meters. After a day's rest, he goes hunting at night and hunts for snails, insects and worms.

After a night hunt, the amphibian digs the soil with its hind legs, and plunges into the ground with its back, being almost in a vertical position. At this time, she closes her nostrils and eyes. For a full immersion in the ground, a spadefoot takes a couple of minutes.

In self-defense, a frightened spadefoot exudes a garlic-like skin secretion that can stifle an attacker's appetite. If it is not possible to hide at this moment, then, croaking loudly, it swells up and rises to its feet in order to increase its size and thereby scare off the aggressor.

Description

The body length reaches 8 cm. Large bulging eyes with vertical pupils are located on both sides of the massive head. The muzzle is short and rounded.

The dense wide body is painted in a grayish-brown or olive-green color with irregularly shaped protruding spots. The lighter sides are strewn with small red spots.

The skin is smooth and shiny with small flat tubercles. The hind legs are very muscular and the toes are connected by swimming webs. At the base of the first toe there are horny calcaneal tubercles.

In the wild, the common spadefoot lives on average about 5-6 years. In captivity, with good care, she lives up to 11 years.

Chasnonitsa extraordinary

The whole territory of Belarus

Family Spadefoot (Pelobatidae).

In Belarus, a rather common species, distributed rather unevenly throughout the territory, including Poozerye.

Medium sized amphibian. The body length is 4-6 cm, but in the population, individuals of this size make up only 8-12% of the total (most are 3-4 cm in size). Weight 5.8-20.0 g. Body shape oval, slightly flat. The muzzle is rounded, the forehead is convex. The limbs are relatively short. The shape of the body resembles a toad. The skin is smooth or slightly bumpy. There is no eardrum. The eyes are big. A distinctive feature is a vertically set slit-like pupil and a very large spade-shaped hard yellowish calcaneal tubercle on the inner surface of the hind legs, a horny plate, with the help of which it is quickly buried. Males have an oval gland on their shoulders, they are slightly smaller than females and are more contrastingly colored. Marriage calluses are absent. Numerous skin glands secrete a poisonous secret that smells like garlic (hence the name).

The coloring is dull. The top is light gray, sometimes dark gray, with a yellowish or brown tinge. Against this background, dark olive, dark brown or black spots with red dots of various shapes and sizes are visible. The underparts are light (grayish-white) with a slight yellowness, with dark spots, sometimes without them.

The larvae (tadpoles) of spadefoot are very large: the length, together with the tail, reaches 7.3-17.5 cm , although in newly hatched ones it does not exceed 3-5 mm. After reaching the 26th stage of development, spadefoot larvae acquire a peculiar brilliant bluish tint. The body is quite massive, the tail is pointed at the end. Rows of denticles on the oral disc are usually paired, interrupted in the middle, 3 rows on the upper lip, and 4-5 rows on the lower lip.

The common spadefoot is a typical terrestrial species. Spadeworts come to water bodies only during the breeding season, spending the rest of the time on land. In connection with the burrowing lifestyle (usually buried in the soil during the daytime), it adheres to lighter and looser soils. Most often, spadefoot can be found in floodplains of rivers and lakes, especially in meadows bordering sandy soils, as well as in mixed and broad-leaved forests and other places. It gravitates noticeably towards places transformed by man (fields, gardens, kitchen gardens, forest belts, parks), where the soil is the most loose. The average population density is 10-20 individuals / ha, but in some areas the number of spadefoot can be relatively high - up to 100-800 individuals per 1 ha. The ratio of males to females in Belarus is 1:1.38.

You can meet spadefoots most often at dusk, at night and in the morning, and only occasionally during the day (in cool or rainy weather), since at this time they are still in shelters. Probably because the spadefoot is considered a rare species or not known at all. It burrows into the soil for a day, and it digs in quickly (within a few minutes), raking the ground to the sides with its hind limbs, which is facilitated by powerful calcaneal tubercles. When burrowing, it descends into the ground with the back of the body. On slightly damp sand, the spadefoot has time to burrow its head in 2-3 minutes. It usually digs into the soil during the daytime, although it often uses rodent burrows, heaps of stones, logs, etc. for shelters.

At dusk, you can meet quite a few of these small amphibious diggers. On the high sandy bank of the Dnieper, which borders on the lowland, on a July night there were up to 4-5 individuals per 1 m².

In the composition of the feed of the spadefoot, leading a twilight and nocturnal lifestyle, there are practically no flying, as well as aquatic forms. The most common food for spadefoot is terrestrial invertebrates - Diptera (34.5%), beetles (11.4%), caterpillars (13.1%), spiders, earthworms.

Spadeworms, like toads, are not always protected from enemies by poisonous skin secretions. Its venom can cause fatal poisoning only in small individuals. For humans, it is safe in doses that are lethal to insects and lizards. Garlic can be safely taken in hand. She often herself becomes a victim of other animals - the common snake, common viper, curlew, stork, heron, bittern, falcons, black grouse, black kite, buzzard, eagle owl, little owl, common owl, roller, crow, magpie, and also hedgehog, foxes, polecats, minks, martens, badgers and otters.

Wintering is carried out on land, burrowing into the soil to a depth of at least 30-50 cm (sometimes up to 1.5 m) or uses other shelters (rodent burrows, basements, cellars). Goes to winter relatively early - during September. In the spring it appears not earlier than April.

For breeding (in late April - early May), spadefoot usually choose water bodies with a more or less constant water level and depths from 0.5-0.7 m to 1.0-1.3 m , although occasionally spawning occurs in temporary reservoirs. The mating calls of males are relatively quiet, as they are served only under water. From the shore, they resemble the gurgling sound "knock, knock, knock" or"krok, krok, krok". On land, sometimes spadeworts make peculiar jerky (croaking) sounds.

Although males do not have marriage calluses, they firmly hold females during mating by the lumbar region. Sometimes the mating of spadefoot takes place on land, on the way to the reservoir. However, most often, unlike most other tailless amphibians, spadewort individuals mate in the water column, where spawning occurs. They do not form clusters during breeding. As a rule, in one reservoir there are no more than 15-20 pairs.

Spawning also occurs at depth, at a water temperature of 12-20°C, sometimes a little lower. Masonry in the form of two slimy, relatively thick sausage-like cords 40-80 cm long, inside of which eggs are randomly scattered. Cords fit algae, sunken branches and other underwater objects. The fecundity of females ranges from 1200 to 3200 (usually 1600-1700) eggs. Spawning of the spadefoot is perhaps the least noticeable in nature.

The larval period lasts relatively long - 100-110 days. At the beginning of development, spadefoot tadpoles are hardly noticeable in water bodies, but after 30-40 days (until June), when they reach 35-50 mm or more (sometimes up to 70-100 mm), and later they are very noticeable. If you scare away a flock of tadpoles that are basking in the upper layers of the water, you can see how even large vegetation moves under water. Giant tadpoles barely fit in the palm of your hand. D length with tail reaches 10 cm or more at the end of the larval stage 7.0-16.0 cm. The larvae feed on algae. They scrape them off the surface of aquatic plants, rocks, and other objects. Tadpoles of the spadefoot are the most herbivorous; in their diet, plant foods make up up to 80%. This is facilitated by a well-developed oral apparatus: a powerful beak and a relatively large number of denticles on the oral disc (more than 1000).

Olga Vasilevskaya, ok. Pinsk

Another candidate for a frog pet is common spadefoot (Pelobates fuscus)- a representative of a separate family of garlic. This is a small amphibian up to 8 cm long, usually painted yellow-brown or light gray with brown and black spots and red dots. Common spadefoot got its name due to the fact that the skin sometimes begins to emit the smell of garlic. Common spadefoot is found in areas with soft soil, as they like to dig in the ground. Therefore, they can often be found in the fields, but only at night and mainly in wet weather or before its onset. Spadeworts burrow into the ground with the help of their hind legs, armed with a spatulate tubercle.

The spadefoot moves to reservoirs only for the period of spawning, that is, for 20-25 days. The female lays 1200-1800 eggs. Among all amphibians, the spadefoot has the longest hibernation - up to 200 days. Development lasts longer than other amphibians - 90-110 days. Therefore, spadefoot can be an interesting object for studying the process of reproduction and development of amphibians.

The whole territory of Belarus

Family Spadefoot (Pelobatidae).

In Belarus, a rather common species, distributed rather unevenly throughout the territory, including Poozerye.

Medium sized amphibian. The body length is 4-6 cm, but in the population, individuals of this size make up only 8-12% of the total (most are 3-4 cm in size). Weight 5.8-20.0 g. Body shape oval, slightly flat. The muzzle is rounded, the forehead is convex. The limbs are relatively short. The shape of the body resembles a toad. The skin is smooth or slightly bumpy. There is no eardrum. The eyes are big. A distinctive feature is a vertically set slit-like pupil and a very large spade-shaped hard yellowish calcaneal tubercle on the inner surface of the hind legs, a horny plate, with the help of which it is quickly buried. Males have an oval gland on their shoulders, they are slightly smaller than females and are more contrastingly colored. Marriage calluses are absent. Numerous skin glands secrete a poisonous secret that smells like garlic (hence the name).

The coloring is dull. The top is light gray, sometimes dark gray, with a yellowish or brown tinge. Against this background, dark olive, dark brown or black spots with red dots of various shapes and sizes are visible. The underparts are light (grayish-white) with a slight yellowness, with dark spots, sometimes without them.

The larvae (tadpoles) of spadefoot are very large: the length, together with the tail, reaches 7.3-17.5 cm , although in newly hatched ones it does not exceed 3-5 mm. After reaching the 26th stage of development, spadefoot larvae acquire a peculiar brilliant bluish tint. The body is quite massive, the tail is pointed at the end. Rows of denticles on the oral disc are usually paired, interrupted in the middle, 3 rows on the upper lip, and 4-5 rows on the lower lip.

The common spadefoot is a typical terrestrial species. Spadeworts come to water bodies only during the breeding season, spending the rest of the time on land. In connection with the burrowing lifestyle (usually buried in the soil during the daytime), it adheres to lighter and looser soils. Most often, spadefoot can be found in floodplains of rivers and lakes, especially in meadows bordering sandy soils, as well as in mixed and broad-leaved forests and other places. It gravitates noticeably towards places transformed by man (fields, gardens, kitchen gardens, forest belts, parks), where the soil is the most loose. The average population density is 10-20 individuals / ha, but in some areas the number of spadefoot can be relatively high - up to 100-800 individuals per 1 ha. The ratio of males to females in Belarus is 1:1.38.

You can meet spadefoots most often at dusk, at night and in the morning, and only occasionally during the day (in cool or rainy weather), since at this time they are still in shelters. Probably because the spadefoot is considered a rare species or not known at all. It burrows into the soil for a day, and it digs in quickly (within a few minutes), raking the ground to the sides with its hind limbs, which is facilitated by powerful calcaneal tubercles. When burrowing, it descends into the ground with the back of the body. On slightly damp sand, the spadefoot has time to burrow its head in 2-3 minutes. It usually digs into the soil during the daytime, although it often uses rodent burrows, heaps of stones, logs, etc. for shelters.

At dusk, you can meet quite a few of these small amphibious diggers. On the high sandy bank of the Dnieper, which borders on the lowland, on a July night there were up to 4-5 individuals per 1 m².

In the composition of the feed of the spadefoot, leading a twilight and nocturnal lifestyle, there are practically no flying, as well as aquatic forms. The most common food for spadefoot is terrestrial invertebrates - Diptera (34.5%), beetles (11.4%), caterpillars (13.1%), spiders, earthworms.

Spadeworms, like toads, are not always protected from enemies by poisonous skin secretions. Its venom can cause fatal poisoning only in small individuals. For humans, it is safe in doses that are lethal to insects and lizards. Garlic can be safely taken in hand. She often herself becomes a victim of other animals - the common snake, common viper, curlew, stork, heron, bittern, falcons, black grouse, black kite, buzzard, eagle owl, little owl, common owl, roller, crow, magpie, and also hedgehog, foxes, polecats, minks, martens, badgers and otters.

Wintering is carried out on land, burrowing into the soil to a depth of at least 30-50 cm (sometimes up to 1.5 m) or uses other shelters (rodent burrows, basements, cellars). Goes to winter relatively early - during September. In the spring it appears not earlier than April.

For breeding (in late April - early May), spadefoot usually choose water bodies with a more or less constant water level and depths from 0.5-0.7 m to 1.0-1.3 m , although occasionally spawning occurs in temporary reservoirs. The mating calls of males are relatively quiet, as they are served only under water. From the shore, they resemble the gurgling sound "knock, knock, knock" or"krok, krok, krok". On land, sometimes spadeworts make peculiar jerky (croaking) sounds.

Although males do not have marriage calluses, they firmly hold females during mating by the lumbar region. Sometimes the mating of spadefoot takes place on land, on the way to the reservoir. However, most often, unlike most other tailless amphibians, spadewort individuals mate in the water column, where spawning occurs. They do not form clusters during breeding. As a rule, in one reservoir there are no more than 15-20 pairs.

Spawning also occurs at depth, at a water temperature of 12-20°C, sometimes a little lower. Masonry in the form of two slimy, relatively thick sausage-like cords 40-80 cm long, inside of which eggs are randomly scattered. Cords fit algae, sunken branches and other underwater objects. The fecundity of females ranges from 1200 to 3200 (usually 1600-1700) eggs. Spawning of the spadefoot is perhaps the least noticeable in nature.

The larval period lasts relatively long - 100-110 days. At the beginning of development, spadefoot tadpoles are hardly noticeable in water bodies, but after 30-40 days (until June), when they reach 35-50 mm or more (sometimes up to 70-100 mm), and later they are very noticeable. If you scare away a flock of tadpoles that are basking in the upper layers of the water, you can see how even large vegetation moves under water. Giant tadpoles barely fit in the palm of your hand. D length with tail reaches 10 cm or more at the end of the larval stage 7.0-16.0 cm. The larvae feed on algae. They scrape them off the surface of aquatic plants, rocks, and other objects. Tadpoles of the spadefoot are the most herbivorous; in their diet, plant foods make up up to 80%. This is facilitated by a well-developed oral apparatus: a powerful beak and a relatively large number of denticles on the oral disc (more than 1000).

Olga Vasilevskaya, ok. Pinsk

Pelobates fuscus (Laurenti, 1768)

Detachment. Tailless. Anura.

Family. Garlic. Pelobatidae.

Guard rank. International.

Spreading. In the Yaroslavl region, the spadefoot is sporadically found in the Lyubimsky municipal district. In Russia, it is distributed in the European part and Western Siberia.

General distribution: Europe, Kazakhstan.

population. Few species.

Main identifying features. The body length of the spadefoot reaches 71 mm. The forehead is convex between the eyes. The inner calcaneal tubercle is light brown or yellowish. The main color of the spadefoot is brown or gray. On the back there is an almost symmetrical pattern of dark, clearly defined spots, sometimes forming stripes. A light stripe runs across the entire back. The lower part of the body is light with dark gray spots. The skin on the sides and back is smooth, but flat tubercles are scattered over the body.

Habitat and lifestyle. The spadefoot lives in the forest zone on the plains, choosing areas of terrain with loose soil. Its characteristic feature is the ability to burrow into the soil very quickly, using a large calcaneal tubercle and hind limbs.

Garlic belongs to the dry-loving species. It is found in water bodies only during breeding. During the day, she likes to burrow into the ground, sometimes to a depth of 1 m. She can use rodent burrows, leaves, brushwood and stones as shelters. It hibernates on land, buried in the soil.

During breeding, spadefoot is active for days; the rest of the time - only at dusk and at night. It breeds in stagnant, non-drying water bodies - ponds, ditches, sand pits, pits. Spawning occurs in the second half of March - early June. The clutch usually contains from 400 to 3200 eggs. Tadpoles of the spadefoot emerge from the eggs in 5–11 days.

The spadefoot feeds on spiders, centipedes, insects and earthworms.

Limiting factors. Not known.

Conservation Measures Taken. The spadefoot is protected under the Berne Convention (Appendix II).

Garlic (pelobatida) is an amphibious animal that belongs to the subclass of shellless, jumping superorder, tailless squad.

This article describes amphibians from the spadefoot family (lat. Pelobatidae), the genus of spadefoot (lat. Pelobates). There is another family: horned spadefoot (lat. Megophryidae). It will be discussed in a separate article.

The reason for the appearance of the word "garlic" is not known for certain. According to one version, the amphibian was named so because it is often found in beds among garlic. But most likely its name has a different origin. The smell of secretions from the skin of spadefoot occasionally resembles a faint aroma of a pungent vegetable. On this basis, it can be distinguished from other amphibians. This is the smell of the skin secretion secreted by the spadefoot, with the help of which it defends itself from approaching enemies. This smell creates an unpleasant sensation in the lungs of the attacker, so he often leaves hungry.

Garlic - description and photo. What does garlic look like?

Garlic is a small amphibian, outwardly representing a cross between and. The length of different types of spadefoot varies from 4 to 10-11 cm, and the animal weighs 10-24 g. Its body is short and wide, divided into head and torso. The neck of the pelobatid is not pronounced, and the pectoral girdle is mobile.

Amphibian skin is moist and smooth, with small flat bumps. Like all amphibians, spade covers are attached to the muscles and skeleton of the body not along the entire length, but only in some places. All loose space under the skin is filled with lymph. From here, the glands take moisture to produce mucus, which includes toxic substances. An amphibian needs venom to fight off numerous microorganisms that attack its bare skin, and moisture is necessary for skin respiration.

On the head of the spadefoot, there are no parotid glands (parotids) and eardrums characteristic of toads. She also does not have vocal sacs (resonators). On the forehead, between the eyes of the animal, there is a bulge (except for the Syrian spadefoot), and teeth are visible on the upper jaw. If you carefully examine the large protruding eyes of an amphibian, you will notice that its orange, golden or copper pupils are located vertically. The position of the pupils of the spadefoot indicates that it is a nocturnal animal.

The pelobatid has two pairs of well-developed legs, the front of which are four-toed. Five-fingered webbed hind limbs are 2-3 times longer than the front ones. They are used for jumping and swimming. A distinctive feature of spadefoot is yellow-brown or black calluses on the hind legs (calcaneal tubercles), with the help of which animals burrow underground.

The back of the spadefoot is gray, brown or yellow-brown with a symmetrical pattern of dark spots and (or) stripes. A bright light stripe may run along the back, and reddish spots are often scattered along the sides.

The lower part of the body of amphibians is light with dark gray spots, less often monophonic. Dissecting adaptive coloring is necessary for the spadefoot in order to remain unidentified as long as possible. If the surface of something is covered with spots of contrasting tones and the wrong size, then it is these spots that attract the attention of the observer for a very long time, and not the object on which they are located. A catchy stripe stretching along the back, instead of focusing on the animal, has the exact opposite effect. This line does not remind the casual eye of an amphibian at all, but rather a stalk of grass or a branch. Further, she divides the shape of the spadefoot into two halves so that the attacker does not see it in its entirety, but notices the configuration of its two halves. These halves are so different from the whole animal that the brain of the enemy cannot recognize it for a long time.

What do garlic bugs eat?

Adult spadefoots eat mostly animal and less vegetable food. They feed on small insects and their larvae, arachnids, worms, centipedes, and molluscs. Their favorite food are ground beetles and click beetles, earthworms and. Pelobatids also eat hymenoptera (riders, sawfly larvae),. They see only what is moving, and catch crawling, but not flying individuals. They swallow their victims alive, adjusting them in their mouths with their front paws. Sometimes, through the thin covers of their bodies, you can see how the animals they swallowed swarm in the stomach.

Two spadeworts can hunt side by side until they spot the same prey at the same time. Then a fight breaks out between them. They bite and tear their prey out of each other's mouths. If one of them is full, then she will calmly give up her prey to her rival, and if she is hungry, then she will not pay attention to bites.

In captivity, spadeworts refuse to take food for a long time. In a terrarium, they can hide in a shelter and sit there without getting out for up to three months. Sometimes you even have to force-feed the animal.

Where does the garlic bug live?

Researchers consider Western Asia to be the place of appearance of the spadefoot. This is where the largest number of these animals live. From there they spread to other parts of the world. Now their representatives can be found in Central Asia (in Kazakhstan), Europe (in Holland, France, Italy, Spain, etc.) and North Africa. Two species of this family live in Russia - the common and the Syrian spadefoot. They are found from St. Petersburg to Tyumen, not going north of 63 ° latitude. In the south of the country, their range reaches the Black Sea, the Caucasus and the border with Kazakhstan.

Previously, the family of pelobatids included krestovka, so in many Soviet sources one can find mention of another type of spadefoot living in Russia, namely the Caucasian krestovka (lat. Pelodytes caucasicus). Now it belongs to a separate family of crosses (lat. Pelodyttidae).

Spadeworts prefer open places with light sandy soil, often settle on arable land and in vegetable gardens. You can meet them in broad-leaved and mixed forests, in the taiga, in meadows near rivers, in steppes, deserts and mountains.

Lifestyle of garlic

Despite the fact that the spadefoot belongs to the class of amphibians, they have adapted to life away from water. They can be found even in deserts. This is one of the most land amphibians. Only green toads are tied to water, even less than spadefoots. Unlike frogs, pelobatids have well-developed lungs, and skin respiration takes up a smaller percentage in them than in other amphibians. Although their skin has become keratinized, keeping it moist remains a very important factor. To protect themselves from drying out, the spadefoot burrow into the ground during the day. They do it very quickly, no more than 3 minutes. Actively spreading the ground with their hind legs, working with them in turn, they sink vertically down in a "column" to a depth of 15 cm to 1.5 m. The amphibians take soil with their front paws and close up the entrance to the hole with it. At the same time, they draw as much air as possible into the lungs, becoming twice as wide, so that they can then hold their breath for several hours. At nightfall, the spadeworts come out to hunt. In cloudy weather, they can be found on the surface and during the day.

Unfavorable periods of spadefoot are experienced by falling into hibernation. To do this, they use the burrows of rodents or the nests of shore swallows. Often they are arranged simply under fallen leaves, in the ground or under stumps. Spadeworts sleep in groups next to each other, but not together. They also survive in frozen ground. During hibernation, amphibians breathe only with the help of their skin. Some species can hibernate for up to 11 months a year, emerging from their burrows only during the rains.

The cry of a disturbed spadefoot is very loud and sharp, reminiscent. When an amphibian is in pain, it makes sounds similar to crackling. Actively defending itself from an attack, the spadefoot swells up, opens its mouth wide, rises on its paws above the soil and makes frightening sounds. At the same time, she can fight off enemies with her front paws. Rigid heel tubercles also serve as a means of protection for her. If the amphibian notices that an enemy is approaching from behind, then it throws out its hind leg with force, capturing a pinch of sand, and throws it directly into the eyes of the enemy. The mucus of the spadefoot skin is toxic to small animals and microorganisms; in humans, it causes minor skin irritations.

Reproduction and development of garlic

The breeding season of spadefoot starts in spring, namely in March, immediately after they wake up, but it can drag on until June if the water temperature remains low for a long time. At this time, amphibians are active both day and night. Mating of males and females occurs in non-drying water bodies (ponds, ditches, quarries) at a water temperature of at least 8–10°C. Pelobatids prefer clean, slightly acidic water, but in the absence of such, they also breed in muddy puddles. The male spadefoot has no true nuptial calluses. During the breeding season, oval glands appear on the shoulders, forearms or palms of the front paws, from which a watery liquid is released when pressed. The male grabs the female by the body in front of the hips and fertilizes the eggs allocated to her, while making characteristic gurgling sounds. Spadeworms do not stay in the water for a long time, and the entire period of their reproduction takes from 5 to 10 days.

The life cycle of spadefoot consists of 3 stages:

1. Eggs,
2. larvae,
3. Adult individuals.

The female lays up to 3000 eggs in a clutch similar to a cord from 40 cm to 1 m long. She winds a tourniquet with caviar on aquatic plants as close to the surface as possible or lays it directly on the bottom of the reservoir. The diameter of the laid eggs is 1.5–2.5 mm. The duration of the development of eggs depends on the temperature of the surrounding water, but on average it lasts about 7 days.

Larvae of spadefoot are tadpoles, more like fish. They develop in 90 to 100 days, growing from 73 to 220 mm in length. Tadpoles are almost twice as large and heavier than adult spadefoot. Their tail looks like a huge blade, and on the left side of the body there is a gill opening (spiracculum). The tail is often retained when the tadpole develops paws and their mouth turns into a mouth. The oral disc of the larva has an oval shape and is surrounded on all sides (except the upper one) by labial papillae. Below and above their horny jaws (beak), labial teeth are randomly arranged in several rows.

Tadpoles grow quickly, in the first months they live at the bottom of the reservoir in silt and feed on detritus. Then they move on to eating aquatic plants - they eat algae, duckweed. Vegetable food makes up 80% of their diet. They get the rest of their food by eating small animals - protozoa (amoebae, ciliates), crustaceans, molluscs, rotifers. They would also eat larger animals, but are unable to catch them. But if someone tears and eats their fellow tadpoles, they are happy to attach themselves and bite off pieces from them. Many larvae die when water bodies dry up or if they do not have time to develop before the onset of winter. But cases are known when at this stage they experienced the cold season: it is precisely such tadpoles that reach gigantic sizes.

After turning into an adult (metamorphosis), small spadefoot weighing up to 6 g and up to 10-33 mm long burrow into the ground right at the bottom or next to the reservoir and hide there until the next spring. With warming, young animals begin to look for a place to live. Sexual maturity of spadefoot comes after 2, 3 or 4 years from the moment of their appearance in the form of eggs (different scientists give conflicting data).

Appearing in the water, for the rest of its life, the spadefoot has a dislike for water bodies. To maintain the moisture of the skin, it needs rain, dew, soil moisture and its own secretions.

Life span of garlic

The life cycle of spadefoot in nature lasts a little over 4 years. In captivity, cases of amphibian life up to 11 and even 15 years are known.

Enemies of spadefoot in nature

• birds (magpies, gray crows, bitterns, red-footed falcons);
• reptiles (water and ordinary);
• animals (, marten, muskrat);
• green frogs;
• fish (,).

The benefits and harms of garlic

Happiness if the spadefoot settles in our garden or garden. At night, she eats invertebrates in huge quantities, most of which are pests of cultivated plants. In addition, it loosens the earth, helping the roots of plants to breathe.

Another candidate for a frog pet is common spadefoot (Pelobates fuscus)- a representative of a separate family of garlic. This is a small amphibian up to 8 cm long, usually painted yellow-brown or light gray with brown and black spots and red dots. Common spadefoot got its name due to the fact that the skin sometimes begins to emit the smell of garlic. Common spadefoot is found in areas with soft soil, as they like to dig in the ground. Therefore, they can often be found in the fields, but only at night and mainly in wet weather or before its onset. Spadeworts burrow into the ground with the help of their hind legs, armed with a spatulate tubercle.

The spadefoot moves to reservoirs only for the period of spawning, that is, for 20-25 days. The female lays 1200-1800 eggs. Among all amphibians, the spadefoot has the longest hibernation - up to 200 days. Development lasts longer than other amphibians - 90-110 days. Therefore, spadefoot can be an interesting object for studying the process of reproduction and development of amphibians.

It belongs to another family - spadefoot. In the European part of our country, south of St. Petersburg, the spadefoot lives almost everywhere - and at the same time, it rarely catches the eye. There are two reasons for this: the exclusively nocturnal lifestyle of the spadefoot and its habit of sleeping underground (in the photo - a spadefoot dug out of the sand during the day).

Spadeworms can burrow to a depth of two meters and appear on the surface only at dusk, but not every night. The English call the spadefoot spadefoot, because these amphibians burrow by kicking the ground with their hind legs. Like other frogs, "burrowing", on the hind legs of the spadefoot, the so-called internal calcaneal tubercle is well developed - a rudiment of an additional, pre-first toe, covered with a thickened skin cover.

In the 1930s, several spadefoots were specially brought from mainland Europe to England to determine what amphibians were guided by when deciding to go to the surface. At a depth where the spadefoot spends the daytime, both temperature and humidity must remain constant at different times of the day, and light does not penetrate the soil. The reason has not been found. Nevertheless, it was in the evening hours that the breathing of the sleeping spadewort became more frequent, and soon they switched to an active life. It would seem that the animals must obey a strict internal rhythm, but the spadeworts, transported from Europe to America, immediately “switched the clock” and began to live according to local, not European time. The war prevented the continuation of work, and the behavior of the spadewort remained a mystery.

It should be noted that lazy spadeworts have their own reason to delay their exit to the surface. They are slow and clumsy, like toads, and are desirable prey for many predators (despite a 1968 study on their poisonousness). For example, in the paws of the gray owl ( Strix aluco) spadefoots get even more often than birds and rodents.

Many frogs and toads, even those that hide most of the year, betray their presence in the spring with loud and sometimes annoying mating calls. Garlic is not among them. The cries of this frog - a quiet farting - I heard only in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, where, watching the near-water birds, I wandered in the reeds along the edge of a shallow reservoir, among a field of wheat. The voice of the spadefoot was well known to me from the recordings from the gramophone record, I easily recognized it, but then it was not possible to find the animal itself. I had no idea that the spadefoot, unlike many tailless amphibians, does not speak from the surface, but lying at the bottom, at a depth of about 20 centimeters. Soon the quiet voice of the spadefoot was drowned out by the cries of the red-bellied toads ( Bombina bombina), and I forgot about it for a while. Karl Fedorovich Kessler, a 19th-century Russian zoologist, wrote that spadeworts, whom he called "grassworts", when they gather to spawn in large numbers, make "some kind of indefinite noise, similar to the murmur of a fast-flowing stream", but I heard only solitary spadefoots .

At night, I rarely walk with a lantern, so a close meeting with an adult spadefoot was postponed for several years. I met the garlic worm shown in the picture in the Ramensky district of the Moscow region. On the outskirts of a pine forest, summer residents dug a hole from where they took sand. In this pit, under plywood, sat a spadefoot and several common newts ( Triturus vulgaris). Taken out into the open world, the spadefoot remained inactive, as if in a long hibernation.

The distribution of spadefoot is closely related to the nature of the soil: it is easier for them to dig into the sand, so these animals should be common along the Kazan railway. This distribution is undoubtedly determined primarily by predators, such as the badger ( meles meles): they eat spadeworts where they cannot burrow deep. I could not find any more adult spadefoots, but a few kilometers from the place of discovery, on the shore of a small fire pond near the railway, I met frogs of this species that had just completed metamorphosis.

Like all frogs and toads found at the end of summer near spawning ponds, young spadefoot were small, the size of a thumbnail. But large tadpoles were still sitting in a fair number in the pond, which, as I already knew, belonged to the same species. Spadeworts spawn in the spring, and usually in the same year their larvae undergo metamorphosis, leaving for wintering on land. However, in water bodies that do not freeze to the bottom, tadpoles can live until spring. Already large, after the onset of heat they continue to grow, and often reach a length of about 16 cm. I met spadefoot tadpoles as a child, in the same fire pond, only in a village on the Upper Volga. They involuntarily frightened, unexpectedly emerging from the depths to the surface, when I watched the swimming beetles and other aquatic animals from the bridges. Paradoxically, the size of the frogs is not affected by the size of the tadpoles, and even such overgrowths, growing legs and losing their tail, become crumbs. Of all our amphibians, the spadefoot has the largest larvae and, accordingly, the most significant difference in the size of the tadpole and the metamorphosed frog.

Pavel Kvartalnov

17.06.2019

IUCN 3.1 Least Concern:

common spadefoot, or fathead grass(lat. Pelobates fuscus) is a species of the spadefoot family.

Appearance

Body length up to 8 cm, weight 6-20 g. Body oval, slightly flattened. The limbs are relatively short. The skin is smooth. A distinctive feature is a vertical pupil and a very large, spatulate, firm, yellowish calcaneal tubercle. The coloration is not bright, the top is light gray, sometimes dark gray, with a yellowish or brown tint, dark olive, dark brown or black spots of various shapes and sizes with red dots stand out against this background; the bottom is light (grayish-white), with a slight yellowness, with dark spots, sometimes without spots. Numerous skin glands secrete a poisonous secret that smells like garlic (hence the name). The tadpoles of spadefoot are very large: the length together with the tail reaches 10 cm or more. Sometimes it is confused with the common toad from the toad family, which differs only in a darker color.

Spreading

The range of the common spadefoot is within the borders of Central and Eastern Europe, Western Asia. In the European part of Russia in the north it reaches up to about 60 ° N. sh. In Belarus, the spadefoot is a fairly common species, distributed throughout the territory. It occurs almost everywhere on the territory of Ukraine, with the exception of the mountainous regions of the Carpathians, where they live in the valleys and foothills of rivers, most often not higher than 350 m. In the Crimea, it occurs in the Karadag Reserve, also in the eastern part of the Crimea (Mount Opuk).

Ecology

Prefers mixed and broad-leaved forests, floodplain meadows, gardens. Diet: beetles, ants, spiders, caterpillars, worms. Feeds at night.

Common spadefoot is a terrestrial species, adhering to places with light and loose soils. On slightly wet sand, it manages to completely dig into the ground in 2-3 minutes, raking the ground with its hind limbs for this. Usually buried during the daytime. For wintering, it burrows into the soil to a depth of at least 30-50 cm or uses other shelters (rodent burrows, cellars). The duration of wintering is up to 200 days.

Virulence

The mucus of the common spadefoot is poisonous to small animals. When it comes into contact with human mucous membranes, it causes irritation.

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Notes

Literature

• Amphibious. Paўzuny: Entsyklapedychny davednik. Mn., BelEn, 1996. ISBN 985-11-0067-6
• Pikulik M. M. What are the amphibians for us? - Minsk: Science and technology, 1992. ISBN 5-343-00383-4
• Pisanets E.M. Amphibians of Ukraine.

Links

An excerpt characterizing the Common spadefoot

- Where is the main apartment?
- We will spend the night in Znaim.
“And so I packed everything I needed for myself on two horses,” said Nesvitsky, “and they made excellent packs for me. Though through the Bohemian mountains to escape. Bad, brother. What are you, really unwell, why are you trembling so? Nesvitsky asked, noticing how Prince Andrei twitched, as if from touching a Leyden jar.
“Nothing,” answered Prince Andrei.
At that moment he remembered his recent encounter with the doctor's wife and the Furshtat officer.
What is the Commander-in-Chief doing here? - he asked.
“I don’t understand anything,” said Nesvitsky.
“I only understand that everything is vile, vile and vile,” said Prince Andrei and went to the house where the commander-in-chief was standing.
Passing by Kutuzov's carriage, the tortured riding horses of the retinue, and the Cossacks, who were talking loudly among themselves, Prince Andrei entered the hallway. Kutuzov himself, as Prince Andrei was told, was in the hut with Prince Bagration and Weyrother. Weyrother was the Austrian general who replaced the slain Schmitt. In the passage little Kozlovsky was squatting in front of the clerk. The clerk, on an inverted tub, turned up the cuffs of his uniform, hastily wrote. Kozlovsky's face was exhausted - he, apparently, also did not sleep the night. He glanced at Prince Andrei and did not even nod his head at him.
- The second line ... Did you write? - he continued, dictating to the clerk, - Kyiv grenadier, Podolsky ...
“You won’t be in time, your honor,” the clerk answered irreverently and angrily, looking back at Kozlovsky.
At that time, Kutuzov's animatedly dissatisfied voice was heard from behind the door, interrupted by another, unfamiliar voice. By the sound of these voices, by the inattention with which Kozlovsky looked at him, by the irreverence of the exhausted clerk, by the fact that the clerk and Kozlovsky were sitting so close to the commander-in-chief on the floor near the tub, and by the fact that the Cossacks holding the horses laughed loudly under by the window of the house - for all this, Prince Andrei felt that something important and unfortunate was about to happen.
Prince Andrei urged Kozlovsky with questions.
“Now, prince,” said Kozlovsky. - Disposition to Bagration.
What about surrender?
- There is none; orders for battle were made.
Prince Andrei went to the door, through which voices were heard. But just as he was about to open the door, the voices in the room fell silent, the door opened of its own accord, and Kutuzov, with his aquiline nose on his plump face, appeared on the threshold.
Prince Andrei stood directly opposite Kutuzov; but from the expression of the commander-in-chief's only sighted eye, it was clear that thought and care occupied him so much that it seemed as if his vision was obscured. He looked directly at the face of his adjutant and did not recognize him.
- Well, are you finished? he turned to Kozlovsky.
“Just a second, Your Excellency.
Bagration, short, with an oriental type of hard and motionless face, dry, not yet an old man, followed the commander-in-chief.
“I have the honor to appear,” Prince Andrei repeated rather loudly, handing the envelope.
“Ah, from Vienna?” Good. After, after!
Kutuzov went out with Bagration to the porch.
“Well, good-bye, prince,” he said to Bagration. “Christ is with you. I bless you for a great achievement.
Kutuzov's face suddenly softened, and tears appeared in his eyes. He pulled Bagration to himself with his left hand, and with his right hand, on which there was a ring, he apparently crossed him with a habitual gesture and offered him a plump cheek, instead of which Bagration kissed him on the neck.
- Christ is with you! Kutuzov repeated and went up to the carriage. “Sit down with me,” he said to Bolkonsky.
“Your Excellency, I would like to be of service here. Let me stay in the detachment of Prince Bagration.
“Sit down,” said Kutuzov and, noticing that Bolkonsky was slowing down, “I myself need good officers, I myself need them.

common spadefoot
scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animals
Type:	chordates
Class:	Amphibians
Squad:	tailless
Family:	spadewort
Genus:	spadewort
View:	common spadefoot
International scientific name
Pelobates fuscus(Laurenti, 1768)
View in taxonomic databases
CoL

common spadefoot, or fathead grass(lat. Pelobates fuscus) is a species of the spadefoot family.

Description

The sizes are small - 70-80 mm; the head is large, the body is stocky, the hind limbs are relatively short. The skin is smooth, from above it is colored in light gray or brownish color with brown or blackish spots of various sizes and red dots. A light stripe always runs along the back. The belly is light, often with dark gray spots. The characteristic features of the external appearance of the spadefoot are the vertical pupil and the bulge of the forehead between the eyes, as well as the garlic smell - a poisonous secret of the skin glands, which is toxic to small animals, and in humans only causes irritation of the mucous membranes. It is for the specific smell of this secret that the spadefoot got its name. Marriage calluses in males are not located on the fingers, as in most tailless amphibians, but on the shoulders.

Spreading

The range of the common spadefoot is within the borders of Central and Eastern Europe, Western Asia. In the Saratov region, it lives everywhere, but in the Right Bank it has a higher abundance.

Habitat and lifestyle

Larva of common spadefoot

It occurs in mixed and deciduous forests, in agrolandscapes (fields, vegetable gardens, orchards). In the Trans-Volga region, it settles in the floodplains of rivers, along the banks of various reservoirs.

The common spadefoot is one of the most terrestrial species among the amphibians of the Saratov region. Leads a terrestrial twilight-night lifestyle, visiting the reservoir only during the reproductive period. During the day they are active in water bodies during spawning and in rainy weather. During the day, amphibians burrow into the ground with the help of their hind limbs with a large calcaneal tuber, as well as the distal part of the urostyle. Within 2-5 minutes they burrow, as a rule, to a depth of 10-15 cm, where it is not as dry and hot as on the surface. Under the ground, the spadefoot is located in a horizontal position. In connection with a similar way of life, spadeworts prefer soils of light mechanical composition (sands, sandy loams, loams, cultivated fields).

In spring they appear in late March - early April. For breeding, they choose permanent, non-drying reservoirs (lakes, flooded pits, etc.) with clean water and rich vegetation. Sometimes it can be found in small pits, in small puddles, ditches, road ruts filled with melt water.

During mating, the male grabs the female by the body in front of the hips (inguinal amplexus). Reproduction is carried out under water at a temperature of +8°C and above. At the same time, males make gurgling sounds like “knock ... knock ... knock”. Spawning continues until the end of May - the first decade of June. The masonry is a cord up to 1 m long, more often 35-50 cm, consisting of 350-3200 eggs with a diameter of 1.5-2.5 mm.

After about 5-9 days, tadpoles 4-5 mm long appear. Their gill opening (spiracculum) is located on the left side of the body and is directed back and up. The anus is located in the midline of the body. The oral disc of tadpoles is oval in shape, surrounded by labial papillae almost on all sides (except for the notch on top). The denticles are randomly arranged in several rows of intermittent and solid rows above and below the horny jaws (beak). The upper fin of the tail is high; the end of the tail is pointed. Tadpoles first stay in the bottom part of the reservoir, and then, having reached a length of four to five centimeters, they appear in the water column and at its surface. Larval development can last from 58 to 140 days. Before metamorphosis (the transformation of a larva into an adult animal), the length of the tadpole is one and a half times the size of females. The emergence of young individuals 15-35 mm long from water bodies is observed from the first half of July to the end of August. They stay in damp areas (in grass, leaf litter, under stones, fallen trees, etc.) near water bodies. Sexual maturity occurs in the 3rd year of life.

Adult individuals as shelters, in addition to their own holes, use the holes of rodents. At the sight of danger, the spadefoot takes a defensive posture - they swell up, rise on their paws, sometimes open their mouths, and make sounds.

Spadeworts leave for wintering at the end of September - October. They hibernate on land, burrowing into the ground or using rodent burrows, sometimes in wells and cellars.

Nutrition

The food composition of the spadefoot is quite diverse and is largely determined by the seasonal dynamics of the fauna of habitat prey. Spadeworts feed in the evening and at night (from 21-22 to 2-4 hours). The increase in the degree of their nocturnal activity depends not only on the ambient temperature, but also on humidity: the higher the humidity, the more active they are. The value of the daily ration ranges from 200 mg in spring (April) and autumn (October), to 400 mg in summer (June - August). For the entire active period, one spadefoot produces more than 2000 animals and utilizes 80-100 g of biomass. The basis of the diet of amphibians are hemipterans, beetles, hymenoptera, arachnids and other invertebrates. At the same time, most of the prey is made up of animals weighing 5-20 mg and a body length of 6-15 mm.

The main food of tadpoles at the first time of their development is detritus, and then they switch mainly to plant foods, which can be up to 70%.

Limiting factors and status

The enemies of spadefoot are reptiles (ordinary and water snakes), birds (great bittern, gray heron, red-footed falcon, gray crow, magpie, etc.) and mammals (desman, common fox, stone and forest martens, etc.), in some cases their eat fish (common pike, perch). A huge number of tadpoles die from the drying up of water bodies.

The common spadefoot is not among the rare species of the Saratov region, and in some places it reaches a high abundance. Protected by the Berne Convention (Annex II). The species does not need special protection measures.

Literature

• Fauna of the Saratov region. Book. 4. Amphibians and reptiles: Proc. allowance / G. V. Shlyakhtin, V. G. Tabachishin, E. V. Zavyalov, I. E. Tabachishina. - Saratov: Sarat Publishing House. un-ta, 2005. - S. 21-24

Mushrooms of the Rtishchevsky district Fauna of the Rtishchevskiy district Red Book of the Saratov Region People of the city and region Administrative-
territorial division History of the Rtishchevo region Economy Education and science

Another candidate for a frog pet is common spadefoot (Pelobates fuscus)- a representative of a separate family of garlic. This is a small amphibian up to 8 cm long, usually painted yellow-brown or light gray with brown and black spots and red dots. Common spadefoot got its name due to the fact that the skin sometimes begins to emit the smell of garlic. Common spadefoot is found in areas with soft soil, as they like to dig in the ground. Therefore, they can often be found in the fields, but only at night and mainly in wet weather or before its onset. Spadeworts burrow into the ground with the help of their hind legs, armed with a spatulate tubercle.

The spadefoot moves to reservoirs only for the period of spawning, that is, for 20-25 days. The female lays 1200-1800 eggs. Among all amphibians, the spadefoot has the longest hibernation - up to 200 days. Development lasts longer than other amphibians - 90-110 days. Therefore, spadefoot can be an interesting object for studying the process of reproduction and development of amphibians. Source:

Maintenance and care of common spadefoot

Young spadefoot tadpoles feed on plant food, adult spadefoot tadpoles feed on ants, ground beetles, spiders and insect larvae, which makes up 80% of their food. Also, with great pleasure, the spadefoot eats earthworms, slugs and other invertebrates. It is recommended to keep the same diet in case you decide to have an ordinary spadefoot as a pet.

To keep spadefoot at home, a 30-liter terrarium is recommended with a mandatory separate pond, the water in which it is desirable to change daily. At the bottom it is recommended to lay a 5-8 cm layer of earth, peat, tree bark, you can add a little sand. Must have green plants. For adults, additional heating of the terrarium is not required, 15-20 ° C is enough at an air humidity of 75 to 90%. Since the spadefoot is nocturnal, the terrarium can not be equipped with lighting.

You can buy common spadefoot at pet stores or large bird markets.

In our article, we want to talk about your possible pet. Meet this common spadefoot. Recently, completely exotic pets have come into fashion, pushing traditional cats and dogs into the background.

Who is this garlic lady?

The common spadefoot (pelobates fuscus) is a frog that belongs to the whole family of spadefoots. By the way, this is a small amphibious creature, up to eight centimeters long. Usually the frog has a light gray or yellow-brown color.

But the common spadefoot received its interesting name due to the fact that its skin sometimes emits a garlic smell. The glands of an amphibian secrete mucus with such an unpleasant odor in case of danger.

Common spadefoot: description

If you look at the spadefoot, then outwardly it looks like the most common toad, only her skin is very smooth. The frog has a stocky body, but the hind legs are quite short. Her eyes are large and bulging, and there are teeth. A light stripe runs along the back.

Common spadefoot: habitat

Garlic is an unusual creature. It is found in places where there is soft soil. And this is due to the fact that she loves to dig in the ground. That is why such frogs are often found in the fields, but only in damp and at night. They burrow into the soil with the help of their hind legs, which are armed with a spade-shaped tubercle. The frog spends more time underground at a depth of fifteen centimeters. Moreover, the spadefoot digs the ground with amazing speed and quickly goes vertically down. During the day, they sit in minks, and go out at night in search of food, but they can only hunt when the air is humid enough, if it is dry, they will not even leave their shelter, no matter how much they want to eat. Adults hibernate from September to April in the burrows of rodents, swallows, moles, in pits under stumps.

Common spadefoot lives in broad-leaved and mixed forests, meadows, vegetable gardens, swamps and lakes.

You can meet a frog only at dusk, at night or in the morning, and even then, only when the air humidity is sufficient for it. It is for this reason that the spadefoot is considered a fairly rare species.

Reproduction of garlic

In reservoirs, the frog lives only during breeding, which is about twenty-five days. The spawning process itself takes place in water. The female is able to lay up to 1800 eggs. It should be noted that among all the representatives of amphibians, the spadefoot, perhaps, has the longest period of hibernation, which is two hundred days.

The frog spends the entire mating season near the reservoir. The wetter and rainier the summer, the longer the breeding season will last. Females lay their clutches, similar to threads, directly on plants in water bodies.

Then the tadpoles develop for about a hundred days. Very small tadpoles are orange in color, later they become golden and brownish. To feed themselves, they take a vertical position and collect the necessary food from the water surface with their mouths. Their diet is plant foods. In shallow water, they prefer not to swim. The tadpoles are quite large, they barely fit in the palm of your hand.

As soon as they have forelimbs, they instantly leave the reservoir and go to land, burrow underground and wait for the moment when their tail falls off. The process of development of tadpoles can last from three to five months. Puberty of amphibians occurs at the age of three years.

Amphibian food

Common spadefoot is only nocturnal and at the same time feels great on land. In the summer, she can make whole trips, leaving six hundred meters from the water. During the day, amphibians rest, and at night they come out to hunt. They feed on insects, worms, and snails.

After night feeding, the common spadefoot (photos are given in the article) digs a hole for itself with its hind legs and plunges into the ground with its back, while closing its eyes and nostrils. In order to completely burrow, it only takes a few minutes.

Frog self defense

To protect against enemies, the frog uses garlic smell. It stands out at the slightest danger and is able to discourage the desire to attack. If, however, the spadeweed failed to escape in time, then it begins to croak loudly, swells up and rises on its paws. In such a simple way, she tries to increase her size and thereby scare the enemy. Both females and males can croak, but they do not have resonators, and therefore they can only be heard near the water. In the wild, an amphibian lives for five to six years. And at home, with normal care, these frogs can live up to eleven years.

The poison of the skin glands of the frog is not dangerous, it can harm only a small number of individuals. For a person, it does not pose a danger, and therefore a frog can be safely picked up. Often, the spadefoot itself becomes food for snakes, vipers, herons, storks, curlews, falcons, bitterns, black kites, black grouse, owls, eagle owls, tawny owls, badgers, crows, hedgehogs, polecats, foxes, minks. As you can see, such a small creature has more than enough enemies.

Garlic at home

In principle, the common spadefoot can also act as a pet. Keeping it in captivity should take place in a special terrarium of at least thirty liters. It must certainly have a reservoir, the water in which should be changed daily. At the bottom of the tank, you need to pour a layer of soil five to eight centimeters thick, consisting of peat, tree bark and sand. Also, be sure to have green plants in the terrarium.

For adults, you do not need to additionally warm the air, twenty degrees will be enough, but at the same time, air humidity should be observed, it should be at least 75 percent, and it is better if its value is close to 90%. Garlic is a nocturnal creature, and therefore you can not make lighting in the terrarium.

Young frog tadpoles should be fed a vegetable diet. Adults need ants, ground beetles, spiders, insect larvae, all of which make up more than eighty percent of their food. Also, spadeworts are very fond of eating earthworms and slugs. You need to buy a frog in pet stores.

Difficulties of keeping an amphibian

If you decide to keep a frog at home, then you need to immediately evaluate all the difficulties associated with this. Is it so easy to care for common garlic? Systematics for controlling humidity, and for young individuals also for temperature, should become an indispensable condition for keeping a frog.

In addition, it should be remembered that the terrarium must be cleaned very often and the water changed daily. It is also not easy to get live food, and it is inconvenient to breed it at home, and this is not practical, since it can spread throughout the apartment. Frogs are able to escape from the terrarium and simply die in the apartment from dehydration, and therefore it must be kept closed. Remember that the spadefoot is a nocturnal creature, so it is hardly worth hoping that you will be able to watch it during the daytime. This is not the kind of pet that will entertain you, rather, you will need close attention and proper care.

Most likely, the frog will spend most of the time buried in the sand or substrate, and come out only to feed. To maintain normal humidity, the terrarium must be sprayed inside with water. And for the shelter of an amphibian, you can put pieces of tree bark inside.

Rare view

It should be noted that the habitat of the spadefoot is quite wide. She lives in Central and Eastern Europe, Western Asia. And yet, the amphibian is one of the rare species. For example, it is listed in the Red Book of Estonia, as well as the Red Book of the Moscow, Oryol and Lipetsk regions. Currently, there is no threat of its extinction. Rather, it is under protection as a rare little-studied amphibian. Such an unusual creature is the common spadefoot. The Red Book of the Moscow Region in the second edition already included the frog in its lists due to the fact that, compared to the last century, there were fewer places where it lives, and the number of individuals also suffered. It is believed that this is due to the long period of development of its offspring, as well as significant environmental pollution, which also significantly affects the spadefoot.

It should be noted that a lot of reptiles and amphibians are included in the Red Book of the Moscow Region, this is explained by the fact that these animals suffer the most from the anthropogenic influence of people due to their characteristics. Amphibians are very attached to their habitat, unlike other animals, they cannot migrate over long distances, moreover, they are directly connected to their reservoir. Currently, the decline in the number of amphibious creatures is observed around the world. Why this happens is unknown, no explanation has been found for this phenomenon.

The whole territory of Belarus

Family Spadefoot (Pelobatidae).

In Belarus, a rather common species, distributed rather unevenly throughout the territory, including Poozerye.

Medium sized amphibian. The body length is 4-6 cm, but in the population, individuals of this size make up only 8-12% of the total (most are 3-4 cm in size). Weight 5.8-20.0 g. Body shape oval, slightly flat. The muzzle is rounded, the forehead is convex. The limbs are relatively short. The shape of the body resembles a toad. The skin is smooth or slightly bumpy. There is no eardrum. The eyes are big. A distinctive feature is a vertically set slit-like pupil and a very large spade-shaped hard yellowish calcaneal tubercle on the inner surface of the hind legs, a horny plate, with the help of which it is quickly buried. Males have an oval gland on their shoulders, they are slightly smaller than females and are more contrastingly colored. Marriage calluses are absent. Numerous skin glands secrete a poisonous secret that smells like garlic (hence the name).

The coloring is dull. The top is light gray, sometimes dark gray, with a yellowish or brown tinge. Against this background, dark olive, dark brown or black spots with red dots of various shapes and sizes are visible. The underparts are light (grayish-white) with a slight yellowness, with dark spots, sometimes without them.

The larvae (tadpoles) of spadefoot are very large: the length, together with the tail, reaches 7.3-17.5 cm , although in newly hatched ones it does not exceed 3-5 mm. After reaching the 26th stage of development, spadefoot larvae acquire a peculiar brilliant bluish tint. The body is quite massive, the tail is pointed at the end. Rows of denticles on the oral disc are usually paired, interrupted in the middle, 3 rows on the upper lip, and 4-5 rows on the lower lip.

The common spadefoot is a typical terrestrial species. Spadeworts come to water bodies only during the breeding season, spending the rest of the time on land. In connection with the burrowing lifestyle (usually buried in the soil during the daytime), it adheres to lighter and looser soils. Most often, spadefoot can be found in floodplains of rivers and lakes, especially in meadows bordering sandy soils, as well as in mixed and broad-leaved forests and other places. It gravitates noticeably towards places transformed by man (fields, gardens, kitchen gardens, forest belts, parks), where the soil is the most loose. The average population density is 10-20 individuals / ha, but in some areas the number of spadefoot can be relatively high - up to 100-800 individuals per 1 ha. The ratio of males to females in Belarus is 1:1.38.

You can meet spadefoots most often at dusk, at night and in the morning, and only occasionally during the day (in cool or rainy weather), since at this time they are still in shelters. Probably because the spadefoot is considered a rare species or not known at all. It burrows into the soil for a day, and it digs in quickly (within a few minutes), raking the ground to the sides with its hind limbs, which is facilitated by powerful calcaneal tubercles. When burrowing, it descends into the ground with the back of the body. On slightly damp sand, the spadefoot has time to burrow its head in 2-3 minutes. It usually digs into the soil during the daytime, although it often uses rodent burrows, heaps of stones, logs, etc. for shelters.

At dusk, you can meet quite a few of these small amphibious diggers. On the high sandy bank of the Dnieper, which borders on the lowland, on a July night there were up to 4-5 individuals per 1 m².

In the composition of the feed of the spadefoot, leading a twilight and nocturnal lifestyle, there are practically no flying, as well as aquatic forms. The most common food for spadefoot is terrestrial invertebrates - Diptera (34.5%), beetles (11.4%), caterpillars (13.1%), spiders, earthworms.

Spadeworms, like toads, are not always protected from enemies by poisonous skin secretions. Its venom can cause fatal poisoning only in small individuals. For humans, it is safe in doses that are lethal to insects and lizards. Garlic can be safely taken in hand. She often herself becomes a victim of other animals - the common snake, common viper, curlew, stork, heron, bittern, falcons, black grouse, black kite, buzzard, eagle owl, little owl, common owl, roller, crow, magpie, and also hedgehog, foxes, polecats, minks, martens, badgers and otters.

Wintering is carried out on land, burrowing into the soil to a depth of at least 30-50 cm (sometimes up to 1.5 m) or uses other shelters (rodent burrows, basements, cellars). Goes to winter relatively early - during September. In the spring it appears not earlier than April.

For breeding (in late April - early May), spadefoot usually choose water bodies with a more or less constant water level and depths from 0.5-0.7 m to 1.0-1.3 m , although occasionally spawning occurs in temporary reservoirs. The mating calls of males are relatively quiet, as they are served only under water. From the shore, they resemble the gurgling sound "knock, knock, knock" or"krok, krok, krok". On land, sometimes spadeworts make peculiar jerky (croaking) sounds.

Although males do not have marriage calluses, they firmly hold females during mating by the lumbar region. Sometimes the mating of spadefoot takes place on land, on the way to the reservoir. However, most often, unlike most other tailless amphibians, spadewort individuals mate in the water column, where spawning occurs. They do not form clusters during breeding. As a rule, in one reservoir there are no more than 15-20 pairs.

Spawning also occurs at depth, at a water temperature of 12-20°C, sometimes a little lower. Masonry in the form of two slimy, relatively thick sausage-like cords 40-80 cm long, inside of which eggs are randomly scattered. Cords fit algae, sunken branches and other underwater objects. The fecundity of females ranges from 1200 to 3200 (usually 1600-1700) eggs. Spawning of the spadefoot is perhaps the least noticeable in nature.

The larval period lasts relatively long - 100-110 days. At the beginning of development, spadefoot tadpoles are hardly noticeable in water bodies, but after 30-40 days (until June), when they reach 35-50 mm or more (sometimes up to 70-100 mm), and later they are very noticeable. If you scare away a flock of tadpoles that are basking in the upper layers of the water, you can see how even large vegetation moves under water. Giant tadpoles barely fit in the palm of your hand. D length with tail reaches 10 cm or more at the end of the larval stage 7.0-16.0 cm. The larvae feed on algae. They scrape them off the surface of aquatic plants, rocks, and other objects. Tadpoles of the spadefoot are the most herbivorous; in their diet, plant foods make up up to 80%. This is facilitated by a well-developed oral apparatus: a powerful beak and a relatively large number of denticles on the oral disc (more than 1000).

Olga Vasilevskaya, ok. Pinsk

Outwardly, the common spadefoot is a “copy” of the common frog, but systematically, according to a number of morphological features, it belongs to a special family of spadefoots. The most remarkable feature is the outgrowths on the hind legs, a kind of “small sapper spatula”, thanks to which the spadefoot in a matter of seconds, being on soft ground, can burrow and disappear from the soil surface right before our eyes. In the area of ​​their distribution, spadefoots are found unevenly, preferring: a) areas with gray forest soils b) solid stone areas c) areas with hard clay substrate d) chalk areas Answer: "a)" Answer a) is correct. Since it is necessary for spadefoot to burrow into the ground to escape from dangers, they live in flat mixed and broad-leaved forests, preferring areas with loose forest soils. Answer b) is not correct. For spadeworts, it is necessary, fleeing from dangers, to burrow into the ground. Therefore, they cannot live on solid rocky areas with hard ground. Answer c) is not correct. For spadeworts, it is necessary, fleeing from dangers, to burrow into the ground. Therefore, they cannot live in areas with hard clay soils. Answer d) is not correct. For spadeworts, it is necessary, fleeing from dangers, to burrow into the ground. Therefore, they cannot live in chalk areas with solid ground.

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Appearance

Pelobates fuscus fuscus

Body length 4-6 cm, weight 6-20 g. Body oval, slightly flattened. The limbs are relatively short. The skin is smooth. A distinctive feature is a vertical pupil and a very large, spatulate, firm, yellowish calcaneal tubercle. The coloration is not bright, the top is light gray, sometimes dark gray, with a yellowish or brown tint, dark olive, dark brown or black spots of various shapes and sizes with red dots stand out against this background; the bottom is light (grayish-white), with a slight yellowness, with dark spots, sometimes without spots. Numerous skin glands secrete a poisonous secret that smells like garlic (hence the name). The tadpoles of spadefoot are very large: the length together with the tail reaches 10 cm or more. Sometimes it is confused with the common toad from the toad family, which differs only in a darker color.

Spreading

The range of the common spadefoot is within the borders of Central and Eastern Europe, Western Asia. In the European part of Russia in the north it reaches up to about 60 ° N. sh. In Belarus, the spadefoot is a fairly common species, distributed throughout the territory. It occurs almost everywhere on the territory of Ukraine, with the exception of the mountain regions of the Carpathians, where they live in valleys and foothills of rivers, most often not higher than 350 m. In Crimea, it occurs in the Karadag Reserve, also in the eastern part of Crimea (Mount Opuk).

Ecology

Common spadefoot is a terrestrial species, adhering to places with light and loose soils. On slightly wet sand, it manages to completely dig into the ground in 2-3 minutes, raking the ground with its hind limbs for this. Usually buried during the daytime. For wintering, it burrows into the soil to a depth of at least 30-50 cm or uses other shelters (rodent burrows, cellars).

Notes

Literature

Links

• Animals alphabetically
• Species out of danger
• tailless
• Animals described in 1768
• Amphibians of Eurasia
• poisonous animals

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See what "Common spadefoot" is in other dictionaries:

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- (Pelobatidae) a family of tailless amphibians of the suborder of the spadefoot. Outwardly similar to toads or frogs. Length up to 10 cm. 9 genera, uniting about 50 species; distributed in Europe, North West Africa, West and South East ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

List of species listed in the German Red Data Book, volume one Vertebrates (German: Rote Liste gefärdeter Tiere, Pflanzen und Pilze Deutschlannd // Band 1: Wirbeltiere), published with the participation of the Bundesamt für Naturschutz in 2009. To the publication ... Wikipedia

IUCN 3.1 Least Concern:

common spadefoot, or fathead grass(lat. Pelobates fuscus) is a species of the spadefoot family.

Appearance

Body length up to 8 cm, weight 6-20 g. Body oval, slightly flattened. The limbs are relatively short. The skin is smooth. A distinctive feature is a vertical pupil and a very large, spatulate, firm, yellowish calcaneal tubercle. The coloration is not bright, the top is light gray, sometimes dark gray, with a yellowish or brown tint, dark olive, dark brown or black spots of various shapes and sizes with red dots stand out against this background; the bottom is light (grayish-white), with a slight yellowness, with dark spots, sometimes without spots. Numerous skin glands secrete a poisonous secret that smells like garlic (hence the name). The tadpoles of spadefoot are very large: the length together with the tail reaches 10 cm or more. Sometimes it is confused with the common toad from the toad family, which differs only in a darker color.

Spreading

The range of the common spadefoot is within the borders of Central and Eastern Europe, Western Asia. In the European part of Russia in the north it reaches up to about 60 ° N. sh. In Belarus, the spadefoot is a fairly common species, distributed throughout the territory. It occurs almost everywhere on the territory of Ukraine, with the exception of the mountainous regions of the Carpathians, where they live in the valleys and foothills of rivers, most often not higher than 350 m. In the Crimea, it occurs in the Karadag Reserve, also in the eastern part of the Crimea (Mount Opuk).

Ecology

Prefers mixed and broad-leaved forests, floodplain meadows, gardens. Diet: beetles, ants, spiders, caterpillars, worms. Feeds at night.

Common spadefoot is a terrestrial species, adhering to places with light and loose soils. On slightly wet sand, it manages to completely dig into the ground in 2-3 minutes, raking the ground with its hind limbs for this. Usually buried during the daytime. For wintering, it burrows into the soil to a depth of at least 30-50 cm or uses other shelters (rodent burrows, cellars). The duration of wintering is up to 200 days.

Virulence

The mucus of the common spadefoot is poisonous to small animals. When it comes into contact with human mucous membranes, it causes irritation.

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Notes

Literature

• Amphibious. Paўzuny: Entsyklapedychny davednik. Mn., BelEn, 1996. ISBN 985-11-0067-6
• Pikulik M. M. What are the amphibians for us? - Minsk: Science and technology, 1992. ISBN 5-343-00383-4
• Pisanets E.M. Amphibians of Ukraine.

Links

An excerpt characterizing the Common spadefoot

- Where is the main apartment?
- We will spend the night in Znaim.
“And so I packed everything I needed for myself on two horses,” said Nesvitsky, “and they made excellent packs for me. Though through the Bohemian mountains to escape. Bad, brother. What are you, really unwell, why are you trembling so? Nesvitsky asked, noticing how Prince Andrei twitched, as if from touching a Leyden jar.
“Nothing,” answered Prince Andrei.
At that moment he remembered his recent encounter with the doctor's wife and the Furshtat officer.
What is the Commander-in-Chief doing here? - he asked.
“I don’t understand anything,” said Nesvitsky.
“I only understand that everything is vile, vile and vile,” said Prince Andrei and went to the house where the commander-in-chief was standing.
Passing by Kutuzov's carriage, the tortured riding horses of the retinue, and the Cossacks, who were talking loudly among themselves, Prince Andrei entered the hallway. Kutuzov himself, as Prince Andrei was told, was in the hut with Prince Bagration and Weyrother. Weyrother was the Austrian general who replaced the slain Schmitt. In the passage little Kozlovsky was squatting in front of the clerk. The clerk, on an inverted tub, turned up the cuffs of his uniform, hastily wrote. Kozlovsky's face was exhausted - he, apparently, also did not sleep the night. He glanced at Prince Andrei and did not even nod his head at him.
- The second line ... Did you write? - he continued, dictating to the clerk, - Kyiv grenadier, Podolsky ...
“You won’t be in time, your honor,” the clerk answered irreverently and angrily, looking back at Kozlovsky.
At that time, Kutuzov's animatedly dissatisfied voice was heard from behind the door, interrupted by another, unfamiliar voice. By the sound of these voices, by the inattention with which Kozlovsky looked at him, by the irreverence of the exhausted clerk, by the fact that the clerk and Kozlovsky were sitting so close to the commander-in-chief on the floor near the tub, and by the fact that the Cossacks holding the horses laughed loudly under by the window of the house - for all this, Prince Andrei felt that something important and unfortunate was about to happen.
Prince Andrei urged Kozlovsky with questions.
“Now, prince,” said Kozlovsky. - Disposition to Bagration.
What about surrender?
- There is none; orders for battle were made.
Prince Andrei went to the door, through which voices were heard. But just as he was about to open the door, the voices in the room fell silent, the door opened of its own accord, and Kutuzov, with his aquiline nose on his plump face, appeared on the threshold.
Prince Andrei stood directly opposite Kutuzov; but from the expression of the commander-in-chief's only sighted eye, it was clear that thought and care occupied him so much that it seemed as if his vision was obscured. He looked directly at the face of his adjutant and did not recognize him.
- Well, are you finished? he turned to Kozlovsky.
“Just a second, Your Excellency.
Bagration, short, with an oriental type of hard and motionless face, dry, not yet an old man, followed the commander-in-chief.
“I have the honor to appear,” Prince Andrei repeated rather loudly, handing the envelope.
“Ah, from Vienna?” Good. After, after!
Kutuzov went out with Bagration to the porch.
“Well, good-bye, prince,” he said to Bagration. “Christ is with you. I bless you for a great achievement.
Kutuzov's face suddenly softened, and tears appeared in his eyes. He pulled Bagration to himself with his left hand, and with his right hand, on which there was a ring, he apparently crossed him with a habitual gesture and offered him a plump cheek, instead of which Bagration kissed him on the neck.
- Christ is with you! Kutuzov repeated and went up to the carriage. “Sit down with me,” he said to Bolkonsky.
“Your Excellency, I would like to be of service here. Let me stay in the detachment of Prince Bagration.
“Sit down,” said Kutuzov and, noticing that Bolkonsky was slowing down, “I myself need good officers, I myself need them.

Garlic toad or frog. First, it must be said about why these toads are called spadefoots. The fact is that in case of danger or if such a toad is seized by someone who wants to eat it, the toad becomes furious, it swells and squeaks, and at the same time, a secret that emits the smell of garlic is released on its skin. This garlic smell sometimes saves a toad's life. Hence the name garlic toad. There are several types of spadefoot: Syrian, Iberian, Moroccan and common. It is believed that the spadefoot belongs to the species of amphibian toads, but in its quick movements it surpasses ordinary toads and is more like a frog. The spadefoot jumps quickly, making large frequent jumps, swims quickly and dexterously, which is not characteristic of toads. They eat insects, love beetles and spiders, crickets, caterpillars, cockroaches, and strawberry pests slugs.

A feature of the spadefoot is its lifestyle. The toad is nocturnal, at night it moves in search of food, preys on insects. she does not live in water, but descends into it only for throwing caviar, and after a few days she gets out onto land.

With the advent of the first rays of the sun, the spadefoot hides in the ground. But this does not mean that she lives in constantly dug holes. No, the toad digs a new shelter each time, choosing more suitable loose soil for this. She does this very cleverly and within a few minutes she is no longer visible on the surface of the soil. Small dimensions, and it is only 8-9cm and weight is only 20g, allow it to quickly hide.

The spadefoot toad burrows with the help of its horny calluses on a thick rounded head and hind legs with internal tubercles. The toad digs very quickly and interestingly, at first it rushes forward, simultaneously pushing the soil with its hind legs. It turns out that it burrows into the soil and hides under it in a vertical position, spadeweeds breathe in the ground, due to the air, the soil is quite loosened and breathable. But this is not a hole, because it does not have an entrance or exit and a permanent place where the dawn will overtake, there the toad takes refuge.

By way of life, this amphibian prefers places with more accessible soil for digging shelters, and for breeding it can reach a reservoir located several kilometers from its habitat.

The common spade frog is one of the first amphibians in our area to spawn after a long winter hibernation. If warm weather comes early, then already in early April, both the female and the male find a reservoir and live in it for about a week. Toads in the mating season stick their heads out of the water and become especially vociferous, making their croaking. But spade croaks are not very pleasant, their croaking is more like gurgling or grunting.

Tadpoles of the spadefoot toad have a long body up to 17 cm, due to the long intestine. After all, tadpoles spend most of their lives in water, and their diet is plant foods. In reservoirs with cold water, tadpoles do not have time to go through the process of metamorphosis and overwinter in the larval stage.

I would like to say about the benefits of garlic toads. They are an integral part of the earth's ecosystem, they destroy harmful insects and at the same time loosen the soil. It makes no sense to keep such toads at home. After all, this toad is nocturnal and will not be seen all daylight hours, then why keep it.