The Desert Responds: Tadpoles and Hackberries

Last Saturday marked our first significant monsoon rainfall, measuring in at 1″, and neighboring parks allow us to observe how the desert has responded.

Although the above species has yet to be determined, tadpoles can hatch from eggs in as little as 15 hours, and develop into toads in a week.

[Couch’s Spadefoot toads] Their eggs have been known to hatch in just 15 hours, and they can complete the transformation from “tadpole to hopper” in as little as a week — assuming the puddle they are deposited in lasts that long.

In addition to the all-important moisture, amphibians are drawn out this time of year by another monsoon mainstay: flying ants. After a storm, Rosen said, swarms of the insects will emerge, touching off a feeding frenzy by frogs and toads.

Tucson.com

A number of toads and frogs call the Sonoran Desert home, including:

• Couch’s Spadefoot toad
• Red Spotted toad
• Mexican Spadefoot toad
• Great Plains toad
• Western Narrow-mouthed toad
• Sonoran Green toad
• Sonoran toad (toxic to dogs)
• Woodhouse’s toad
• American Bullfrog
• Lowland Leopard frog

Inconspicuous yellow-green flowers April-October depending on rainfall. Berries ripen July-December.

The edible berries are sweet to man and birds. Hermit Thrush, Northern Cardinal, towhees, Phainopepla, Townsend’s Solitaire, Cedar Waxwing, thrashers, White-crowned Sparrow and House Finch are among the birds likely to be seen at Desert Hackberry when in fruit.

Two fascinating butterflies use this plant as a larval host. The Leilia Hackberry Butterfly (Asterocampa leilia), burnt orange with black marginal spots, will almost always be found patrolling nearby up and down a wash just a few feet above the ground stopping frequently to perch on the ground.

…Another butterfly that feeds on hackberry as a caterpillar is the Snout Butterfly (Libytheana bachmanii), also colored burnt orange. The adult butterflies have a long snout formed from elongated palps (mouthparts), and unlike the hackberry butterflies, are avid nectar feeders especially at Seep Baccharis.

Arizonensis