When a female enters the territory she is grabbed from behind in a loving embrace known as amplexus in frogs. If she is willing, she releases her eggs, which are then fertilized externally by the male. The eggs form large, white, frothy masses that float on the surface. Each egg mass contains thousands of eggs. Tadpoles are tiny when they hatch but soon grow very large.
Tadpoles feed by scraping algae and bacteria that grow on the surface of underwater objects.
They also feed on decaying organic matter and even on dead tapoles. They are about 10 centimeters long by late summer and spend the winter buried in the muddy bottom of the pond. They will spend spring and most of the summer of the second year as tadpoles and transform into froglets late in the summer. Some tadpoles may spend another year in the pond before metamorphosis. Newly metamorphosed frogs are about four centimeters long and will be ready to breed in three to four years.