About Acris gryllus (LeConte, 1825)
Acris gryllus, described by LeConte in 1825, measures 0.75–1.5 inches (16–32 mm) in total length, making it even smaller than the related species Acris crepitans. It can be differentiated from A. crepitans by several key physical traits: it has a more pointed snout, while A. crepitans has a blunter snout. When folded, the hind leg of A. gryllus is more than half the length of its body, whereas the folded hind leg of A. crepitans is less than half its body length. When the hind leg is extended forward, the heel of A. gryllus usually extends past the snout, while the heel does not reach the snout in A. crepitans. A. gryllus is capable of jumping longer distances than A. crepitans. It has a sharply defined black stripe along the back of the thigh, while A. crepitans has a ragged thigh stripe. The webbing on the rear feet of A. gryllus is sparse, while it is more extensive on the rear feet of A. crepitans. There is evidence that the color of the vertebral stripe on southern cricket frogs can vary over time, and can change within a single frog's lifetime. In terms of range and habitat, the southern cricket frog is typically found in coastal plain bogs, bottomland swamps, ponds, and ditches. It prefers open, sunny areas, and is usually not found in woodlands. The subspecies Acris gryllus gryllus occurs in the Atlantic Coastal Plain from southeastern Virginia, through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, extending west to the Mississippi River. It is found mostly east of the Fall Line, but reaches into more upland areas of the Piedmont along river valleys. The subspecies Acris gryllus dorsalis occurs across the entire Florida peninsula. For reproduction, breeding takes place in late spring and summer. Males produce an advertisement call that sounds like a loud, rapid gick, gick, gick. Females lay up to 150 eggs at a time, and may produce more than one egg mass in a single breeding season (Martof et al. 1980).
