Physical Description - This cricket frog is slightly smaller and more slender than the eastern cricket frog, Acris crepitans. It reaches a length of 16-32 mm (0.5-1.5 in). The snout is more pointed, and the hind legs are longer than in the eastern variety. There is less webbing between the toes--the first toe is partially free of webbing, and the last 3 joints on the 4th or longest toe are free. This species also has a distinct narrow black stripe on the back of its thigh.

Reproduction - This species breeds in late spring and summer, anytime between February and October, dependent upon the rains. Male mating call resembles a rattle or metal clicker with a "glick, glick, glick" repeating in rapid succession. Females lay approximately 150 eggs at a time and may lay more than one complement per year. Eggs and tadpoles are similar in size and character to those of the eastern cricket frog.

Altig & McDiarmid 2015 - Classification and Description:

• Eastern Clump
  • Arrangement 1 - Eggs oviposited as small clumps, not well formed, surface irregular and not distinctly lobate, eggs often fall apart as singles soon after oviposition.
    • Sub-arrangement A - Eggs deposited in permanent, nonflowing water; Ovum Diameter 0.9-1.2 mm; Egg Diameter 23-3.1 mm; 2 jelly layers; clutch about 300.

Behavior - This species is abundant along grassy margins of semi-permanent ponds, streams, or ditches. It prefers more open-canopied forests of pine-hardwoods, pinelands, gum swamps, and others. It is found mostly in the lowlands of the Coastal Plain including bogs, ponds, and river bottom swamps. It will follow river valleys into more upland areas. Its diet is composed mainly of small insects, spiders, and other arthropods. This species has been shown to possess the ability to orient to stellar patterns or to the moon during migrations.

Origin - Native

Limiting Factors - This species is chiefly found in lowland, wetland areas of the Coastal Plain. It requires shallow water with emergent or shoreline grassy vegetation.

Aquatic Terrestrial Associations - This species is abundant along grassy borders of semi-permanent ponds, streams and ditches. It is found in Coastal Plain bogs, ponds and river bottom swamps.

• Conant, Roger and, Collins, John T., 1998, Peterson Field Guide: Reptiles and Amphibians, Eastern/Central North America, 616 pgs., Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston
• Duellman, William E. and, Trueb, Linda, 1986, Biology of Amphibians, 671 pgs., The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
• Martof, B.S., Palmer, W.M., Bailey, J.R., Harrison, III J.R., 1980, Amphibians and Reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia, 264 pgs., UNC Press, Chapel Hill, NC
• Wilson, L.A., 1995, Land manager's guide to the amphibians and reptiles of the South, 360 pp. pgs., The Nature Conservancy, Southeastern Region, Chapel Hill, NC