A novel nesting behaviour of a treefrog, Rhacophorus lateralis in the Western Ghats, India

Nest building by leaf folding is a rare behaviour in anuran amphibians, with previous reports for only two genera, the Subsaharan African Afrixalus, and Central and South American Phyllomedusa. This communication reports a specialized nest building behaviour of an Indian treefrog Rhacophorus lateralis, which was observed in natural habitat at Kalpetta in Wayanad District, Kerala. This behaviour of leaf folding is the first report in the family Rhacophoridae, and in the Asiatic amphibians. Nesting behaviour of R. lateralis is unique among Rhacophorus - a purse-like nest is made over water by folding a single leaf around the egg mass (embryos and translucent foam) by the female alone after oviposition. The function of this parental investment is to prevent desiccation of eggs in open sunlight. This paper also documents the multiple leaf nesting behaviour of other two species of this genus, R. calcadensis and R. pseudomalabaricus, and the previously documented nesting behaviour of R. malabaricus using more than one leaf.