Florida's Frogs
"True" Frogs (Family Ranidae)
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Pig Frog
(Lithobates grylio)
Pig Frog (click on small image to view larger)
Photos by Steve A. Johnson (UF). To obtain permission to use these photos for educational purposes, email tadpole@ufl.edu.
Size:
Usually 3 to 5 in. (max. ~6.5 in.)
Identification:
Body is greenish to black and lacks ridges. Back is marked with large, irregular dark spots. Belly is white to yellowish, and marked with a dark netlike pattern on the lower body. Backs of thighs are boldly marked with a light stripe or light spots. Snout is more pointed than that of American Bullfrogs. Like all "true frogs," they have large eardrums and webbed hind feet. The hind feet are webbed nearly to the tips; American Bullfrogs are highly similar in appearance but the backs of bullfrog thighs have small, abundant light spots rather than bold spots or stripes.
Breeding:
April to August; eggs are laid in a large surface film, usually over vegetation. Call is a repeated, pig-like grunt. To hear frog calls, visit the USGS Frog Call Lookup and select the species you want to hear from the common name drop-down list.
Diet:
Beetles, dragonflies, crayfish, and other aquatic invertebrates; occasionally fishes and amphibians.
Habitats:
Found throughout Florida, with the exception of the Keys, in and around breeding sites. Breeds in quiet, permanent bodies of water, including ponds (natural or manmade), bayheads, sloughs, cypress domes, wet prairies, canals, and ditches.
Map by Monica E. McGarrity - may be used freely for education.
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