If you’ve seen pictures of frogs in children’s books or cartoons, you’ve probably seen them sitting contentedly on large, green lily pads. But is this an accurate depiction of frog behavior in the wild? The short answer is: sometimes, but not usually.
In this comprehensive article, we’ll explore everything you ever wanted to know about frogs and their relationship with lily pads. We’ll discuss which species of frogs are most likely to chill out on lily pads, what they use the lily pads for, and why illustrations so often show them sitting on these aquatic plant platforms.
Which Frog Species Actually Do Sit on Lily Pads
The American Bullfrog
The quintessential image of a frog sitting on a lily pad likely depicts the American bullfrog. These large, green frogs are found throughout most of the eastern United States and can grow up to 8 inches long, making them the largest frog species in North America.
Bullfrogs prefer still or slow-moving waters with lots of vegetation, which provides ample surfaces for basking and calling. Their deep, resonant croak is a staple sound of ponds and wetlands in summer.
As their name suggests, bullfrogs are voracious predators and will eat anything they can fit in their mouths, including fish, smaller frogs, snakes, turtles, birds, and small mammals. Their powerful hind legs and webbed feet make bullfrogs agile both in and out of water.
Watching a bullfrog launch from a lily pad to snap up a dragonfly or sitting frog is an impressive sight.
Green Frogs and Other True Frogs
While not quite as large as bullfrogs, green frogs are another common species seen chilling on lily pads. Ranging 3-5 inches long, green frogs inhabit wetlands across most of North America. They get their name from the greenish hues that predominate their skin.
Like bullfrogs, green frogs have strong hind legs and extensive webbing on their feet that aid swimming and allow them to climb onto lily pads and other vegetation. Males attract females with a distinctive banjo-like plucking sound in summer.
Green frogs will eat snails, spiders, dragonflies, worms, and other small prey. Similar frog species like leopard frogs, pickerel frogs, and mink frogs also frequent lily pads when present.
African Dwarf Frogs
Perhaps the most unexpected lily pad frogs are African dwarf frogs. As their name denotes, these tiny frogs reach just 1-3 inches in length. Unlike our other examples, African dwarf frogs are completely aquatic and found naturally only in east and central Africa.
But they are popular exotic pets that are frequently kept in aquariums with lily pads. Though they never venture fully out of the water, their small size allows them to climb onto and sit comfortably on small lily pad leaves both in nature and captivity.
With their small mouths, African dwarf frogs feed on tiny prey like water fleas, worms, or insect larvae. Their diminutive size and chubby limb proportions give them a cute, almost cartoonish appearance as they lounge on mini lily pads.
Why Would a Frog Sit on a Lily Pad?
Thermoregulation
Sitting on lily pads allows frogs to thermoregulate more effectively. The pads float on the surface of the water, exposing the frogs to warmer air temperatures compared to the water below. By basking in the sun’s warmth, frogs can raise their body temperature to their preferred optimal range for metabolism and activity.
The evaporation from the pads’ wet surface also cools the frogs when needed.
Predator Avoidance
Perching on lily pads removes frogs from the view of underwater predators like fish, turtles, and snakes. The pads act as rafts, lifting the frogs out of harm’s way. Being above the water also improves the frogs’ ability to spot aerial predators like birds and allows them to dive into the water to escape.
The pads’ placement scattered across the pond makes it harder for predators to pinpoint any one frog’s location.
Energy Conservation
Sitting on lily pads allows frogs to rest while still having quick access to the water. Rather than continuously treading water or sitting at the bottom of the pond, frogs can drape themselves over the pads’ surface with their limbs dangling in the water, expending minimal energy.
Being semi-submerged allows them to also monitor vibrations in the water for signs of prey or predators while conserving their strength.
Foraging Advantages
Stationing themselves on lily pads gives frogs a ringside seat to scout for food. From their vantage point, they can spot aquatic insects on the water’s surface, terrestrial insects that fall onto the pads, and larval insects swimming below.
Sitting on the pads keeps the frogs’ eyes above water, giving them better visibility. The pads also draw in insects seeking places to lay eggs, mate, or take shelter. When prey is spotted, the frogs just need to lunge off the pad to snap it up.
When are Frogs Most Likely to Use Lily Pads?
Daytime
Frogs are most active and therefore most likely to be found on lily pads during the daytime hours. As cold-blooded amphibians, frogs need to bask in the sun during the day to regulate their body temperature.
Lily pads provide the perfect platform for sunbathing frogs to warm themselves. According to the Department of Wildlife, about 80% of a frog’s daily activities occur during daylight hours when temperatures are warmest.
Tree frogs in particular are likely to perch on lily pads and vegetation during the day to forage for insects and keep an eye out for predators. Poison dart frogs and other colorful tree frog species can often be spotted resting on lily pads in a pond or wetland environment on a sunny day.
Sunny Weather
Frogs are ectothermic, meaning they rely on external heat sources like the sun to control their body temperature. Therefore, frogs are much more likely to hang out on lily pads on sunny days versus cloudy or rainy days.
The warmth from the sun’s rays helps elevate their body temperature so they can be more active.
Lily pads also provide shade and protection from the heat on extra hot sunny days. Research shows that frogs will sit closer to the center of lily pads on intensely sunny days to stay cooler. So lily pads allow frogs to both warm up and cool down as needed based on weather conditions.
During the Summer
Use of lily pads by frogs increases during the warm summer months when their metabolism is fastest. Summer weather promotes breeding, feeding, and dispersal activities for many frog species. Males will sit upon lily pads and sing mating calls to attract females in the summer.
Statistics from the FrogWatch USA citizen science program show that frog acoustic survey activity peaked in June and July when temperatures were warmest over the past five years.
Month | Average Frog Survey Activity |
---|---|
January | 15% |
February | 18% |
March | 22% |
April | 29% |
May | 61% |
June | 85% |
July | 100% |
August | 92% |
September | 72% |
October | 49% |
November | 35% |
December | 26% |
The lily pad allows frogs to efficiently hunt, mate, and move between wetlands to find food during the biologically productive summer season. Next time you visit a pond on a hot July day, walk quietly and you’re likely to see frogs enjoying some sunny relaxation on their favorite lily pad perches!
Frogs Don’t Spend All Their Time on Lily Pads
Lily Pads Aren’t Essential
While lily pads make great perches for frogs, the amphibians don’t actually need them. Many species of frogs live happily in areas without ponds or lily pads at all. For example, tree frogs spend nearly their whole lives in trees and forests far from the water.
Even frogs that do live in and around ponds, like bullfrogs and green frogs, often opt to rest on logs, rocks, grasses, and shorelines rather than exclusively using lily pads.
Frogs Stay Mostly in the Water
It’s a common cartoon image to show a frog sitting on a lily pad. But in reality, most frogs and toads spend more time actually in the water than lounging on pads. Aquatic frogs like the American bullfrog or African clawed frog may surface to breathe from time to time, but otherwise live nearly their whole lives submerged.
These species have special adaptions like smooth skin, webbed feet, and lateral lines to help them thrive underwater.
Lots of Other Resting Places
When frogs do decide to take a break from swimming, they have lots of options besides lily pads. Logs, rocks, grasses, and shorelines also make nice places to relax and warm up in the sun. And while lily pads certainly do get used by some frogs, the pads have to be large and sturdy enough to support the frog’s weight.
Smaller frog species like spring peepers are more likely to be found resting on grass stalks and reeds than on top of delicate lily pads floating in the water.
Why the Association Between Frogs and Lily Pads?
Lily Pads Provide a Convenient Platform
Lily pads make perfect perches for frogs with their broad, flat surfaces floating atop the water. Several species like the green frog and bullfrog tend to hang out on lily pads, using them as convenient places to sit and survey their aquatic surroundings for food and mates.
Their webbed feet and legs make it easy for frogs to climb on and off the pads. In fact, the textured surfaces of lily pad leaves even have microscopic ridges that help the frogs get a good grip!
Amphibians like frogs need to stay moist, so having a nice watery base below the lily pads they lounge on lets them comfortably sit above the water line without getting too dry. And when a frog spots a tasty bug and decides it’s snack time?
No problem−the frog just takes a quick hop back into the pond below in search of underwater prey. Lily pads make this movement from water to air and back again completely frictionless for aquatic frogs.
Children’s Stories Reinforce the Stereotype
Lily pads showing up in children’s books and cartoons starring frogs is perhaps the most recognizable reason we associate these amphibians with pond plants. Classic tales like The Frog Prince and poems like “Jeremiah in the Tadpole Pond” depict cheerful frogs sitting contently on lily pad thrones.
Even without any basis in science, these cute scenes capture young imaginations and stick there into adulthood.
Such children’s media creates what scientists call an “availability heuristic”. Because we see countless images of cartoon frogs lounging on lily pads with little crowns, we automatically accept that as reality. Many people never grow out of that assumption from early childhood reading.
And you can’t really blame them − a smiling royal frog sitting on a lily pad just seems so natural that we take for granted that’s what real frogs do!
Conclusion
While it’s true that certain frogs, like bullfrogs and green frogs, do sometimes rest and hunt from lily pads, they don’t actually spend most of their time sitting on top of them. Lily pads just provide convenient basking platforms that allow frogs to warm up, avoid predators, and search for prey.
But they have plenty of other places to hang out in their aquatic habitats. The image of a frog relaxing on a lily pad is mostly a result of illustrations in children’s fables and cartoons, not necessarily an accurate depiction of real frog behavior in the wild.