Florida's Frogs & Toads
Cricket Frogs (Family Hylidae)
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Southern Cricket Frog
(Acris gryllus)
Southern Cricket Frog (click on small image to view larger)
Photos by Dr. Steve A. Johnson (UF). To obtain permission to use these photos for educational purposes, email tadpole@ufl.edu.
Size:
Usually 0.5 to 1.25 in.
Identification:
Back is grayish, tan, green to brown; skin is warty. Back is marked with patches of yellow, green, or black, often forming a "Y" shaped line. Head is usually marked with a dark triangle. The hidden surface of the thigh of the Florida subspecies is marked with two dark, lengthwise stripes. Individuals found in the extreme western panhandle are a different subspecies and have only one dark stripe on the thigh--stripe edges are not as ragged like stripes of Northern Cricket Frogs. Snout is also more pointed than that of Northern Cricket Frogs. Digits are tipped with tiny toepads
Breeding:
Year round (February to October in western panhandle); eggs are laid in clusters (7-10 eggs) on the substrate or attached to submerged vegetation. Call is like two marbles clicking together -- gick-gick-gick-gick-gick -- similar to the call of the Northern Cricket Frog. 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 (be sure to listen to the Southern Cricket Frog--calls of both cricket frogs are grouped together on the same page).
Diet:
Ants, beetles, flies, leafhoppers, spiders, and other small invertebrates.
Habitats:
Found throughout Florida, with the exception of the Keys, usually in and around breeding sites, but also found moving through uplands far from breeding sites. Breeds in most freshwater habitats in Florida, both temporary and permanent.
Map by Monica E. McGarrity - may be used freely for education.
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