The northern cricket frog is one of North America's three smallest vertebrates, ranging from long. Its dorsal coloration varies widely, and includes greys, greens, and browns, often in irregular blotching patterns. One New York biologist has identified six distinct color morphs and four pattern morphs, and several intergrades between these. Typically there is dark banding on the legs and a white bar from the eye to the base of the foreleg. The skin has a bumpy texture. It is very similar to the southern cricket frog, Acris gryllus, found in the US Southeastern Coastal Plain, but with some overlap along the Fall Line. The southern cricket frog has longer legs, with less webbing on the hind feet, and a more pointed snout; northern cricket frogs have been observed with snouts indistinguishable from those of the southern species. The line on the back of its thigh is typically more sharply defined than that of the northern cricket frog. Biologists have recorded northern cricket frogs in the northern fringes of their range with extremely sharpposterior leg stripes.
Northern cricket frogs are diurnal and generally active much of the year, except in midwinter in northern areas when the water is frozen. Their primary diet is small insects, including mosquitos. They are, in turn, preyed upon by a number of species, including birds, fish, and other frogs. To escape predators, they are capable of leaping up to 3 feet in a single jump and are excellent swimmers.
Reproduction
Breeding generally occurs from May through July. The males call from emergent vegetation with a high-pitched, short, pebble-like call which is repeated at an increasing rate. The sound suggests pebbles being clicked together, much like a cricket, hence the name. One egg is laid at a time, generally attached to a piece of vegetation. The tadpoles hatch in only a few days, and undergo metamorphosis in early fall. Maturity is usually reached in less than a year.
Habitat
Cricket frogs prefer the edges of slow-moving, permanent bodies of water. Large groups of them can often be found together along the muddy banks of shallow streams, especially during premigratory clustering. The northern cricket frog has been observed to hibernate upland, often at considerable distances from water.
Subspecies
Eastern cricket frog, A. c. crepitans
Coastal cricket frog, A. c. paludicola
Geographic distribution
A. c. crepitans is found from New York, south to Florida, and west along the Gulf Coast states to Texas.
