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
