About the Cope’s Gray Treefrog Drawing
I have encountered thousands of Cope’s Gray Treefrogs over the years, and they remain among my favorite frogs. Although their mottled coloration allows them to disappear against bark and other natural surfaces, they are also frequently found around houses. On warm nights, they often cling to walls and windows near lights, taking advantage of the insects gathered there.
When I was a child, I kept two males in my bedroom. During the spring and summer, the ringing telephone would sometimes stimulate them to begin calling. Their rapid, pulsing trill could suddenly fill the room, providing an early lesson in how strongly male frogs respond to sounds resembling the calls of other frogs.
Cope’s Gray Treefrogs are part of an especially interesting species complex. They are indistinguishable in physical appearance from Common Gray Treefrogs, Hyla versicolor, but the two differ in chromosome number and advertisement call. Cope’s Gray Treefrog is diploid and produces the faster trill, whereas H. versicolor is tetraploid and calls more slowly. Their close evolutionary relationship and the origin of the tetraploid form have made these frogs important subjects in studies of polyploidy and speciation.
In Trill, I portrayed the frog clinging to a narrow branch, emphasizing its textured skin, large reflective eye, expanded toe pads, and the remarkable camouflage that allows these familiar frogs to remain nearly invisible.
Trill is a graphite wildlife drawing of a Cope’s Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) by Michael E. Dorcas for Tantilla Art.