Species Fact Profile: Couch's Spadefoot Toad (Scaphiopus couchii)

Couch's Spadefoot Toad

Scaphiopus couchii (Baird, 1854)

Range: Southwestern United States, Northern Mexico
Habitat: Deserts, Arid Grasslands, Montane Woodlands
Diet: Insects (especially winged termites), Spiders.  Tadpoles feed on insects, shrimp, and algae, and may also be cannibalistic
Social Grouping: Solitary, Breeding Aggregations
Reproduction: Breed in temporary rain-filled pools associated with summer storms.  As many as 3000 eggs are deposited on aquatic vegetation.  Hatch within 2 days, tadpoles complete metamorphosis in 7-8 days (response to the rapidly drying pools)
Lifespan: 13 Years
Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern

The Couch's spadefoot toad is the lighter colored animal in the lower right-hand portion of the photograph - the other amphibians are red-spotted toads.

• Body length up to 9 centimeters.  Males smaller than females
• Smooth skin.  Green or yellowish green background color, white on the belly.  Females tend to have dark reticulations (net-like markings) while males are lighter with faint dark markings, sometimes lacking markings at all
• Has an elongated, sickle-shaped growth on the underside of the each of the rear feet, which is used for digging.  They bury themselves in loose, sandy soil and can remain buried for 8-10 months of the year, emerging at the onset of the summer rains.  Frequently seen on warm, wet summer nights
• Skin secretions can cause allergic reactions or pain in some people, especially if getting into open cuts or mucous membranes
• These toads can eat enough insects in one or two nights to last them the rest of the year
• Species has benefited from the irrigation of the southwest, along with the construction of dams and cattle tanks that result in more standing water
• Named in honor of Darius Nash Couch, an American naturalist who collected the first specimen while on an expedition for the Smithsonian Institution