What are the living habits of frogs? A comprehensive guide

We all know the frog. Its back is green, it has a big mouth, two eyes and four legs; the front two legs are short and small, and the back two legs are long and well developed. So what are the living habits of frogs?

1. Frogs are amphibious animals, usually dwelling in the grass along rice paddies, ponds, ditches or riverbanks, and sometimes lurking in the water. When young they can only live in water, and after growing up they can live on land. When the weather turns cold in late autumn, they lie dormant at the bottom of the water or in burrows for hibernation, and when the weather warms up the following spring they return to the water to breed.

2. Frogs are omnivorous animals, of which plant-based food accounts for only about 7% of their diet, while animal-based food accounts for about 93%. They are mostly active at night and feed mainly on insects; the vast majority of the insects they eat are agricultural pests, and they also feed on some river snails, snails, small shrimp, small fish and so on. Some people estimate that a frog can prey on 70 insects a day and can eliminate 15,000 pests a year.

3. Frogs can sing. They have a bulging sac near their mouth that can produce sound. They love to sing loudly on rainy summer days, and they call most joyfully after a heavy rain. If one calls, the ones nearby will follow suit, and at such times dozens or even hundreds of frogs will croak endlessly.

4. Frogs can jump on the ground, and a single jump can cover a distance 20 times their body length; they can also swim in the water with the most standard breaststroke posture; but their crawling movements are very slow. Their eyes are slow to see still things and keen to see moving things, so as long as a small flying insect passes by, the frog can quickly stick out its long tongue and eat the pest in one go.

5. Frogs are oviparous, generally laying eggs and fertilizing them in water. After the eggs hatch they become tadpoles; tadpoles are black, with round bodies and a long tail. The tadpoles grow day by day, first growing hind legs, then front legs, and the tail gradually shortens and degenerates, until finally they become frogs.