from the February 4, 2006 Newsletter Written at Hacienda San Juan Lizárraga one kilometer east of Telchac Pueblo, Yucatán, MÉXICO and issued from Hotel Reef Yucatan 13 kms to the north
MILKY TREEFROGS?
In one of the hurricane-deroofed warehouses there's a room with a few old 20-liter water jugs, now shattered and useless. The other day I was searching among them for a flowerpot when something inside one of them moved. Eight treefrogs were inside the jug, along with about a quarter of a cup of black, mosquito-larva-filled water. That's them below:

The picture shows four of the eight frogs. They're all treefrogs, which is clear from the pads on their toes and their ability to stick to the jug's sides. The treefrog at the upper right is our most common species, Baudin's Treefrog, Smilisca baudinii.

The other three, I THINK, are Milky Treefrogs, PHRYNOHYAS VENULOSA(*see update). I'm not quite sure because their colors and patterns depart a good bit from what's shown in my herp book. Mainly, the heads of these jug frogs are all gold colored, while the gold on the heads of the frogs pictured in the book have much less gold. However, as a Milky Treefrog should, my jug frogs have toad-like warts. That makes me 80% sure.

If they are indeed Milky Treefrogs, they are distributed from central Mexico through Central America into South America, though their occurrence is somewhat spotty. They are most common in marshy or swampy environments. During the dry season, when there's not an old water jug around, they are found in bromeliads and the axils of banana plants, where water often collects.

This was a pretty good find!