Appearance ²

4.5-7.5 centimeters. Boxlike dark brown spots in two lines down back. Yellow to orange inside thighs.

Habitat ²

Wide range of shallow waters, but prefer cool wooded streams and springs. Often found in weedy or grassy areas.

Behavior/Reproduction ²

Breeding season is late March to early May. Females lay rounded egg masses attached to tree branches in shallow water. Each egg mass contains 700 to 3000 eggs. Tadpoles become frogs after 87 to 95 days and reach maturity two years later.

Pickerel frogs are nocturnal and hibernate under pond sediment.

Fun Fact ²

Although pickerel frogs eat insects, as tadpoles they are herbivores.

Citations ²

http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Lithobates_palustris/

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Anita Gould, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Anita Gould, http://www.flickr.com/photos/61897811@N00/125554472
2. (c) gburg2016, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• AMNH Amphibian Species of the World
• AmphibiaWeb
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HerpMapper
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• VertNet

iNat Map