Cricket Frogs of Louisiana

In Louisiana, both the Northern and the Southern cricket frog occur. The Northern Cricket Frog, Acris crepitans, occurs over the entire state and is the only cricket frog west of the Mississippi River. The Southern Cricket Frog, Acris gryllus, occurs only in southeast Louisiana in the Florida Parishes*. One of the two subspecies of the Southern cricket frog is found in Louisiana, the Coastal Plain cricket frog, Acris gryllus gryllus. Coastal Plain cricket frog has a single dark line behind the thigh.

We live in the Florida Parishes, where both species occur. We find that it is extremely hard to tell the two apart, so I did not try to identify the photos as to whether they were the Northern or the Southern Cricket Frog and have interspersed them throughout the lens. If anyone has the expertise to identify the photos, we would appreciate any input.

*Florida Parishes are the parishes located north of Lake Pontchartrain from the Mississippi River (on the west) to the Louisiana / Mississippi State line on the east.
 

These ground dwelling treefrogs are found near freshwater lakes and along streams. They rarely stray far from the water except during rains. When disturbed, they leap long distances (as much as 3 feet) into water to hide in the plants or at the bottom. They are active year round during mild weather.

In the Florida parishes, where both the Northern and Southern cricket frogs live, it has been observed that the males of each species select different spots from which to sing. A. crepitans (northen) males like shaded spots and A. gryllus (southern) prefer more open places along the pond perimeter. Also A. crepitans predominated the pond, where A. gryllus was more abundant in meadow pools and drainage ditches.

Diet
Northern cricket frogs eat anthopods, especially insects and spiders. They also dine on some snails, worms, crustaceans and other invertebrates.

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The major breeding period of A. crepitans (northern) is from March through September, but males will sing all through the year. This Louisiana frog sings during daylight hours more than any other, however most choruses occur at night.

The singing sounds like someone knocking to pebbles or marbles together in a repeated "gick" sounding song. The total song consists of 20-30 rapid "gick-gick-gick, gick gick" beats. For a tiny frog the volume of their voice is amazing loud.

A single female may lay as many as 250 eggs. Each egg measures 2.3-3.5 mm. They are laid singly or in small masses and usually sink to the bottom of the fresh water ponds or pools.

The development period is from 40-90 days, with the transformation from tadpole to new frog occurring in the warm months. The tadpoles have a black tipped tail and measure 30-46 mm long. Young frogs grow fast and attain adult size in 2 months after metamorphosis.

It's mid June here in south Louisiana and we have seen our first baby Cricket Frog. It is so tiny (less than 1/2 inch) that we almost missed it as it hopped among the carrots in the garden. The photo above is an extreme close up. The brown stems that look like logs are actually dead radishes that went to seed and became part of the mulch in the path.