## Little Grass Frog - Pseudacris ocularis

- Diagnostic Features:
  - Size: 0.5 to 0.75 inches (13 to 19 mm); tiniest North American frog
  - Color:
    - Extremely variable; tan, brown, greenish, pink, or reddish
  - Other:
    - Dark line passing through the eye and onto side of body
    - Usually a narrow, dark middorsal stripe starting as a triangel between the eyes and extending to anal region
    - Another dark, narrow stripe separates the middorsal color from the lighter ground color of the sides
    - Chest whitish or yellowish, plain
    - Toes slightly webbed
  - Sexual Dimorphism:
- Natural History:
  - Habitat:
    - An elfin Chorus Frog whose climbing is restricted to low vegetation
    - Moist, grassy environs of ponds and cypress bays are favourite habitats
  - Behavior:
  - Breeding:
    - January to September, often with summer storms
    - Females deposit eggs singly on the bottom of shallow ponds or in vegetation; about 100 total
- Voice: Sonogram : Call ( Effingham, & Jenkins Counties )
  - A tinkling, insectlike call - set-see, set-see - so high and shrill that some people have trouble hearing it
- Tadpoles:
  - Tadpole stage: 45 - 70 days
  - Transformed size: 7 - 9 mm
  - LTRF 2/3; narrow midventral gap in marginal papillae absent; eyes lateral; P-3 medium to short, P-2/P-3 > 1.2; east of Mississippi River
  - LTRF 2/3; narrow midventral gap in marginal papillae absent; eyes lateral; east of Mississippi River regardless of size, stage or range, notable colors or patterns in Section 10 absent; P-3 short, P-2/P-3 > 1.8; lateral surface of tail muscle distinctly bicolored
  - body darkly pigmented; white, ventral portion of tail coloration about 25% of basal muscle height; pale silver to orange stripe from eyes to tail base (usually disappears in preservative) may extend onto dorsolateral part of tail muscle as pale stripe above dark area; dark tail banded dorsally, at least in smaller specimens; fins with abundant diffuse blotches; dorsum of large specimens with discrete black dots; throat pigmented near oral disc; P-2/P-3 ca. 4.0; summer breeder usually in temporary lentic sites with emergent vegetation in southeastern Virginia to western part of Florida panhandle
  - throat lightly pigmented near oral disc; P-2/P-3 > 3.5; length of one side of A-2/width of medial gap ca 5.0; to 30 TL; lower jaw sheath narrow; midventral marginal papillae biserial; few submarginal papillae ventrolaterally; white, ventral portion of tail coloration about 25% of basal muscle height; pale (silver to orange) stripe from eyes to tail base (usually disappears in preservative) may extend onto dorsolateral part of tail muscle as a pale stripe above dark area; dark tail banded dorsally, at least in smaller specimens; fins with abundant diffuse blotches; dorsum of large specimens with discrete black dots; fins of larger specimens with fairly uniform, diffuse pigmentation; summer breeder usually in temporary lentic sites with emergent vegetation in southeastern Virginia to western part of Florida panhandle
- Range:
  - In North America it is found from southeast Virginia to the southern tip of Florida; inland to edge of the Piedmont and the extreme southeast Alabama
  - In Georgia, it is found below the fall line, primarily coastal.

  - In Light Blue: Williamson, Gerald K. & Moulis, Robert A., Distribution of Amphibians and Reptiles in Georgia, Special Publication No. 3, Savannah Science Museum, Inc. Savannah, Georgia, 1994. Museum specimens
  - In Pale Blue: Williamson, Gerald K. & Moulis, Robert A., Distribution of Amphibians and Reptiles in Georgia, Special Publication No. 3, Savannah Science Museum, Inc. Savannah, Georgia, 1994. Literature only, no museum specimens.
  - In Green: Sound Recordings
  - In Yellow: From Both '94 study and Sound Recordings
  - In Magenta: Photograph, not found by '94, may or may not be sound record
  - In Medium Blue: Photograph and in '94 study, may or may not be sound record
  - In Orange: County Record by other Herp Atlas Volunteers
  - In Red: US Distribution from various sources

June 28, 2003 - wwknapp@mindspring.com