Balfour's Reed Frog

A rather large Hyperolius (males 28-34 mm, females 36-42 mm) with a long pointed snout. Both sexes with the same pattern: dorsum yellow to brown with thin dark dorsolateral stripes, in eastern populations normally only extending 2/3 down the body. Western populations (ssp. viridistriatus) with better developed, green dorsolateral lines and often with a dark middorsal line which is sometimes split into spots. Ventrum and throat white to orange. The males have a large, flat, somewhat shagreened gular flap and small asperities on the dorsum; the females are smooth and considerably larger than the males. Pupil horizontal.This form is very similar in appearance and habitat preference to the western H. concolor and to the Central African H. kivuensis. Its range overlaps both, however, without signs of hybridisation. H. balfouri differs from H. concolor in the colour of the females (uniform green in H. concolor) and by the conspicuous middorsal stripe in areas where the two overlap. For differences between H. balfouri and H. kivuensis, see the latter.The western populations from Cameroun often have a conspicuous dark middorsal stripe, a feature only seen on a few of the eastern specimens. The Cameronese form is normally termed H. b. viridistriatus Monard 1951 while the eastern form from eastern R. D. Congo, south-western Ethiopia and Uganda, is termed H. b. balfouri. If there is a gradual transition between them in the unexplored areas in between, there is hardly any reason to maintain the subspecies.This account was taken from "Treefrogs of Africa" by Arne Schiøtz with kind permission from Edition Chimaira (http://www.chimaira.de/) publishers, Frankfurt am Main.

From the savanna of Cameroun to Uganda and south-western Ethiopia.

The call of both subspecies is similar to those of H. kivuensis and H. concolor but with deeper, coarse, slow, unmelodic croaks.

Hyperolius balfouri is a species of frog in the family Hyperoliidae. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, southwestern Ethiopia, Uganda, and western Kenya. The specific name balfouri honours J.W. Balfour, a missionary in Uganda. Common names Balfour's reed frog and Ethiopia reed frog have been coined for this species, with the latter name referring to the now-synonymized Hyperolius zavattarii. Populations from the western part of the range may be referred to the subspecies Hyperolius balfouri viridistriatus.