This species of toad carries a large number of eggs on its body, resembling a housewife wearing a white apron. However, the “housewife” role belongs to the male toad, not the female.
The scientific name is Alytes obstetricans, which primarily operates at night. Some of these toads live in burrows. They hibernate throughout the winter, but as spring arrives, they wake up and are ready for the breeding season. When the male embraces the female, it gathers the strings of eggs that the female has just laid and wraps them around its hind legs. From that mating night onwards, the male toad is responsible for carrying the eggs. For a period of 20 to 50 days, the male toad must carry the eggs wherever it goes.
 |
Tadpole |
The white “egg apron” gives the Alytes obstetricans its nickname, the “housewife toad.”
Afterwards, the male toad releases the eggs into a pond, where they will hatch and the tadpoles will experience their “childhood” underwater.
The housewife toad has a plump body, a flattened large head, and big bulging yellow eyes. Its limbs are short and strong, with three small warts on each “hand.” The back is gray or olive-brown, covered with various shaped warts, and its belly is somewhat whitish or gray.
This species is distributed in Western Europe, with the male toad measuring about 5 cm in length.
