Little Grass Frog (Pseudacris ocularis)
Description: P. ocularis is the smallest frog in North America, only reaching a maximum head-body length of 0.75 inches. It is normally pale brown, but can have a green or pink tinge. This species is further characterized by a variable dark stripe which runs through each of the frog's eyes and down the sides of its body. The Latin term ocularis translates to "of the eye" in reference to this bold ocular stripe.
Habitat: This species occurs in a wide variety of ephemeral and semi-permanent wetlands in the southeastern Coastal Plain and favors grassy areas in and around cypress ponds and similar sites. It is commonly found on lower tree trunks and foliage up to a height of 1 m or more; males prefer these sites as calling perches. Grassy/sedgy areas near bogs or ponds in pine flatwoods or along pools and streams in hardwood forests and cypress swamps. Usually perched in grasses, sedges, or low shrubs. Eggs are laid and larvae develop in grassy, rain-filled depressions and semi-permanent ponds.
Range: Coastal Plain from southeastern Virginia to southern Florida, west to southeastern Alabama
Diet: The majority of food items consist of arthropods that are associated with leaf litter and/or soil—springtails, ants, thrips, palpigrades, etc. Larvae eat organic debris, algae, and plant tissue.
Reproduction: To gain a female's attention, males will remain perched on top of grass stems or tree trunks and call. This calling is most often compared to high insect-like chirps. P. ocularis The little Grass Frog breeds in shallow, fish free wetlands, including cypress domes, marshes, bogs, wet prairies, wet flatwoods, and floodplain forests generally breeds from January to September in most of their range, but can breed year-round in Florida. Females can generally reproduce more than once per annual cycle. The eggs will usually be laid on a pond bottom or vegetation in shallow water. Females lay up to 200 eggs with 1-5 eggs per cluster. Eggs take 1–2 days to hatch and larvae take 7–70 days to metamorphose.
Status: Globally listed as a Species of Least Concern. In Alabama it is classified as Critically Imperiled. In Virginia it is classified as Vulnerable. All other locals classify it as Secure or Apparently Secure.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Amphibia - Amphibians
»» Order: Anura - Frogs & Toads
»» Family: Hylidae - Treefrogs
»» Genus: Pseudacris
»» Species: Pseudacris ocularis - Little Grass Frog
»» Subspecies: None
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Little Grass Frog ", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
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