Hylarana (Pulchrana) laterimaculata is a medium-sized frog that inhabits swampy areas in lowland primary and good secondary rainforests.

It is a blackish-brown frog, quite similar to the closely related Rough-Sided Frog (Hylarana (Pulchrana) glandulosa), but it is much smaller and more slender. It further differs from H. glandulosa by having a continuous white stripe along the upper jaw, extending from beneath the eye to the tympanum, and by lacking broad, flat warts along the flanks. The calls of the two species are similar in structure but differ in pitch; the H. glandulosa call is deeper and more forceful compared to H. glandulosa.

Little is known about natural history of this frog, probably because it inhabits hard-to-access, swampy habitats. Additionally, it is an excellent jumper and escapes quickly when approached. Egg masses have not yet been documented. Tadpoles, however, have only recently been discovered by Dr. Tzi Ming Leong. The tadpole is highly specialized; it lives in thick leaf litter accumulations in forest swamps. It is very slender, with patches of skin glands and a highly vascularized body (resulting of a reddish skin hue in living specimens). The eyes are small. Due to their shy nature, the tadpoles are difficult to find and catch or even observe in the first place. We thank Nick Baker for the tadpole photograph.