FLYING FROG. A small frog, whose long toes are connected by membranes, and which makes sailing leaps from tree to tree. It be longs to the family (Ilanid(e) of ordinary water frogs, but is wholly arboreal in habit and forms the genus Ithaeophorus, elmracterized not only by the webbing, but by the presence of a small additional bone between the last two joints of the toes, which terminate in disks. All are normally richly green (with yellow bellies), ren dering them invisible amid the foliage; and, in addition, they possess in a high degree the power of changing their color (see META CHROSIS ) to conform to the color of the surface they rest upon. Over forty species are known, most of which inhabit the :Nlalay Archipelago. Ceylon, and the adjacent shores of Asia, while twelve species are natives of Madagascar. One of the best known is the Bornean species (Rhacophorus pardalis), discovered by Wallace. In this the
webbing between the toes is extensive, all four together covering a space of about 12 square inches, and the fore legs are bordered by a mem brane. In most of the other species the webbing is less extensive, and the distance they can glide through the air is correspondingly decreased. They breed in the water, like other tree-frogs, are mainly nocturnal in their movements, and the males are noisy. lame are remarkable for the possession of an adhesive disk behind the mouth on the under surface, while the muzzle is prolonged into a proboscis, and the single breath ing pore is situated on the right side of the body, nearer to the tail than to the muzzle." Con sult: Wallace. Malay Archipelago (New York. HO) ; Tennent„ Ceylon (London, 1850).