Wood Frog - Feeding

Feeding

Wood frogs eat a variety of small, forest-floor invertebrates. Omnivorous, wood frog tadpoles feed on plant detritus, algae and also attack and eat eggs and larvae of amphibians, including those of wood frogs.

The feeding pattern of the wood frog, basically similar to that of other ranids, is triggered by prey movement and consists of a bodily lunge that terminates with the mouth opening and an extension of the tongue onto the prey. Note that the ranid tongue is attached to the floor of the mouth near the tip of the jaw, and when the mouth is closed the tongue lies flat, extended posteriorly from its point of attachment. In the feeding strike, the tongue is swung forward as though on a hinge, so that some portion of the normally dorsal and posterior tongue surface makes contact with the prey. And it is at this point in the feeding strike that the wood frog differs markedly from more aquatic Rana species, such as the green frog, leopard frog, and bullfrog. The wood frog makes contact with the prey with just the very tip of its tongue, much like a toad. A more extensive amount of tongue surface is applied in the feeding strikes of the other 3 frog species, with the result that usually the prey is engulfed by the fleshy tongue and considerable tongue surface contacts the surrounding substrate.