Surinam Toad Breeding Cycle
Surinam Toad Breeding Cycle:
Reminding one of Trypophobia fear of holes
Surinam Toads breeding cycle
If you think you know all about frogs and toads, having encountered them in your biology class as also elsewhere, wait till you hear about the breeding cycle of Surinam toad, found in the rivers and canals of South American countries and known all over the world for its weird manner of reproduction. Believe it or not, the mother toad, after laying eggs in dozens, carries all of them on her back where they make a honeycomb to settle down. Mother covers the eggs in pockets with her skin. The eggs, slowly turn into tadpoles and finally into miniature Surinam toads. If you do not believe me, watch the videos of entire breeding process on YouTube videos.
Among all amphibians, Surinam toad has a body that is hard to believe. It has a very flat body, and looks like a leaf lying on a tree. It has a head that is triangular and looks odd, but it is his breeding habit that makes Surinam toad so popular among nature lovers. Surinam toad sits with patience and sucks his prey with super fast speed though his long tongue.
You must be wondering how the females place pea sized eggs on their backs. See the video closely, and you will find out that it is males who help the eggs to come over the back of the mother toad that readily lets them settle down. Mom to be develops a layer of skin on her back to prevent eggs from falling off. The eggs are almost invisible now and safe also.
If you see the images of Surinam toad, you will find that with holes on her back, she presents an ugly sight. This is enough to terrorize those who already have an irrational fear of holes known as trypophobia. Get a trypophobe and make him see the images of a bot fly or a Surinam toad breeding eggs, and chances are he will run away screaming.
Coming to the topic of bot fly, this is one species of fly that lays eggs on the hind legs of female mosquitoes that play the role of a vector and carry the eggs to the inside of the skin of a person where they complete their cycle and turn into larvae and then finally into a fly. This is when they make a hole in the skin of the victim and fly away. Bot fly bites are rare and not heard of recently. The last instance was way back in 70’s in the jungles of Amazon. Bot fly otherwise gets its eggs laid in animals like horses and buffaloes.
Trypophobia is an ailment that is hard to explain but is very real despite being called an irrational fear. Patient suffering from this ailment needs counseling and needs to be reminded that examples of Surinam toad and bot fly are there in the nature that are indeed weird but there is nothing to be terrorized by them. In fact, one should treat them as aberrations of nature and not connected with human beings.
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