## Southern Cricket Frogs - Acris gryllus

- Diagnostic Features:
  - Size: 0.5 to 1.5 inches (16 to 32 mm)
  - Color:
    - Gray-brown, with black, green, or yellow, very variable
  - Other:
    - Small frog with long snout,
    - Characteristic triangle on top of the head pointing backward
    - Long hind legs when brought forward, heal of leg usually reach past snout
    - Less webbed toes, 1st toe partially free of webbing, 3 joints of 4th (longest) toe free of webbing.
    - More slender than Northern Cricket Frog, the snout is more pointed, the legs longer with less webbing between the toes, and the stripe on the back of the thigh is well defined.
- Subspecies Differentiation:
  - Southern Cricket Frog - Acris gryllus gryllus:
    - Dark, clean cut stripe between two white stripes on back of thigh
    - Tiny Anal warts present
  - Florida Cricket Frog - Acris gryllus dorsalis:
    - Two dark stripes on rear of thigh.
    - No anal warts
- Natural History:
  - Habitat:
    - Prefer shallow ponds with vegetation and full sun.
  - Behavior:
    - These frogs are diurnal and active all year. They can be seen basking in the sunlight. When threatened, they will jump quickly away or into the water. A better jumper than the Northern Cricket Frog
  - Breeding:
    - February through October
    - Calls day and night
    - About 150 eggs are laid at a time, and more than one complement may be produced each year
- Voice: Sonogram - Call ( Ben Hill, Polk, & Echols Counties )
  - Raspy Gick-gick-gick-gick...
  - Repetitive call, similar to that made by clicking small stones together with a glancing blow.
  - Speed of call begins at about one per second, and does not speed up, sounds much the same in chorus.
- Tadpoles:
  - Similar to the Northern Cricket Frog, like that species has a distinctive black tip on tail
  - Transformed size about 14mm
  - LTRF 2/2; narrow midventral gap in marginal papillae absent; eyes dorsal
  - spiracular tube long, projects as tube free from body wall; chest without dark band; summer breeder in usually permanent lentic sites in Coastal Plain from southeastern Virginia to Mississippi River
- Range: Southern Cricket Frog
  - In North America, this species occurs from Virginia to Georgia to Louisiana, primarily in the coastal plain. The Florida subspecies continues the range into all of Florida.
  - In Georgia, they are more common in the area below the fall line, but are found in some northern counties.

  - 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