Pseudacris cruciferSpring Peeper

Ge­o­graphic Range

Pseudacris cru­cifer is na­tive to east­ern North Amer­i­can. It is found from south­east Man­i­toba east to the At­lantic Ocean, and south to east­ern Texas and main­land Florida (but not on the Florida Penin­sula). It is re­ported to have been in­tro­duced to Cuba as well. (Co­nant and Collins, 1998; Skelly, 1996)

Habi­tat

This frog is found in marshy woods and non-wooded low­lands near ponds and swamps. Al­though it is a good climber, spring peep­ers seem to pre­fer to be on the ground or hid­ing in leaf lit­ter. Spring peep­ers breed in fresh­wa­ter ponds or pools, and pre­fer to use ponds where there are no fish. They often use tem­po­rary ponds that dry up after the lar­vae (tad­poles) have trans­formed into adult frogs and left the water.

One study found that dur­ing a drought in Arkansas, spring peep­ers were one of the most com­monly dis­cov­ered anu­ran in caves. The au­thors sug­gest this species used these caves in late sum­mer (late July/early Au­gust) be­cause the rel­a­tive hu­mid­ity in the caves was high (avg = 79%). (Blair and Wasser­sug, 2000; Prather and Brig­gler, 2001)

  • Aquatic Biomes
  • lakes and ponds
  • temporary pools

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

The av­er­age spring peeper varies in size from 20 - 25 mm at ma­tu­rity. This frog is usu­ally some shade of brown, gray, or olive, and oc­ca­sion­ally may be yel­low or red­dish. Its belly is cream or white, and it is marked by a dark cross on its back and dark bands on its legs. Pseudacris cru­cifer has mod­er­ately webbed feet and no­tice­able disks on its fin­gers and toes. (Hin­shaw and Sul­li­van, 1990)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • sexes alike
  • Range mass
    3 to 5 g
    0.11 to 0.18 oz
  • Range length
    20 to 25 mm
    0.79 to 0.98 in
  • Average basal metabolic rate
    0.00105 W
    AnAge

De­vel­op­ment

Eggs are gen­er­ally laid in tem­po­rary ponds. Em­bryos and lar­vae may die when the pH of the habi­tat ranges from 4.2 to 4.5. The lar­val stage can last from 45 to 90 days, and is par­tially de­pen­dent on the avail­abil­ity of water in ver­nal pools. Com­pared to a re­lated species, Pseudacris tris­e­ri­ata, the spring peeper has a longer de­vel­op­ment time (a pro­longed lar­val pe­riod), in which meta­mor­pho­sis is de­layed. (Blair and Wasser­sug, 2000; Smith and Van­Burskirk, 1995; Zam­pella and Bun­nell, 2000)

Re­pro­duc­tion

Males begin mat­ing rit­u­als shortly after the end of hi­ber­na­tion. The males will gather at small pools by the hun­dreds. Each male es­tab­lishes a small ter­ri­tory and be­gins call­ing quite fre­quently. This call is de­scribed as a shrill "peep peep peep." The louder and faster he peeps, the bet­ter his chances of at­tract­ing a re­cep­tive fe­male. Males usu­ally com­pete in trios, and the male with the low­est-pitched call usu­ally starts the vocal com­pe­ti­tion. (Wood­ward and Mitchell, 1990)

The spring peeper is usu­ally about three years old be­fore it reaches the breed­ing stage. The species is one of the first anu­rans to begin breed­ing after win­ter hi­ber­na­tion. The breed­ing pe­riod lasts from March - June, when 800 - 1000 eggs per fe­male are laid in shal­low ponds. The eggs hatch within 6 to 12 days, and tad­poles trans­form to adults dur­ing July (range 45 - 90 days).

Fe­male spring peep­ers typ­i­cally choose mates in a size-se­lec­tive fash­ion -- larger males are pre­ferred and are more suc­cess­ful breed­ers. (Blaustein, et al., 2001; Lance and Wells, 1993)

  • Breeding interval
    Once yearly
  • Breeding season
    April and May
  • Average number of offspring
    900
  • Range time to hatching
    6 to 12 days
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    2 to 3 years
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    2 to 3 years

Fe­males lay eggs that they sup­ply with nour­ish­ing yolk, but once they lay their eggs their in­vest­ment is done. Males pro­vide no parental care or in­vest­ment, just fer­til­iza­tion. (Skelly, 1996)

  • Parental Investment
  • pre-fertilization
    • provisioning
    • protecting
      • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

The longest known lifes­pan in wild is un­known. In cap­tiv­ity, peep­ers will live to 3 - 4 years. (Blaustein, et al., 2001)

  • Range lifespan
    Status: captivity
    3 to 4 years
  • Typical lifespan
    Status: captivity
    3 to 4 years

Be­hav­ior

Spring peep­ers are known for their high pip­ing whis­tle con­sist­ing of a sin­gle clear note re­peated on in­ter­vals. The males sing, nor­mally doing so in trios, the one who starts each round is usu­ally the deep­est voiced. Dur­ing the day­time, peep­ers often call dur­ing light rains or in cloudy weather. They are usu­ally silent at the end of sum­mer, but call from forests dur­ing the fall.

This species hi­ber­nates under logs and in tree­holes. (Tyler, 1994)

  • Range territory size
    1.2 to 5.5 m^2

Home Range

Dur­ing breed­ing sea­son, home range di­am­e­ters range from 1.2 - 5.5 m (4 - 18 ft.), and the peeper's av­er­age daily travel ranges from 6.1 - 39.6 m (20 - 130 ft.). They tend to be found in nat­ural ponds and bogs. (Zam­pella and Bun­nell, 2000)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Mat­ing calls are heard dur­ing early April - May, and great­est dur­ing warm, wet nights. They start call­ing when the am­bi­ent tem­per­a­ture is 28C. Calls (peeps) often end with a high pitched slur, and is re­peated about 20 times/minute. (Blaustein, et al., 2001; Hin­shaw and Sul­li­van, 1990)

Food Habits

Pseudacris cru­cifer is in­sec­tiv­o­rous, eat­ing mainly small in­sects in­clud­ing ants, bee­tles, flies, and spi­ders. It is be­lieved that food is cho­sen more by avail­abil­ity and size than by ac­tual pref­er­ence.

Subadult peep­ers are know to feed most often in the early morn­ing hours and in the late af­ter­noon, while adults more often fed in the late af­ter­noon into the early evening hours.

Lar­vae graze on algae, de­tri­tus, and mi­cro-or­gan­isms. (Buell and Mar­shall, 1955; Oplinger, 1967)

  • Animal Foods
  • insects
  • terrestrial non-insect arthropods
  • Plant Foods
  • algae

Pre­da­tion

Many preda­tors at­tack adult peep­ers, in­clud­ing sala­man­ders, owls, large spi­ders, snakes, and other birds.

Preda­ceous aquatic in­vertabrates in ver­nal pools prey upon the spring peeper tad­pole. The in­ver­te­brates in­clude the preda­ceous div­ing bee­tle (Fam­ily Dytis­ci­dae), leeches (Hirundinea), drag­on­fly lar­vae (Odonata) and giant water bugs ( Be­las­toma spp.). In re­sponse to the pres­ence of preda­tors, peep­ers in lar­val stage travel short dis­tances in a dart­ing fash­ion, then re­mains com­pletely in­ac­tive for long bouts of time.

There has been a wealth of work ex­am­in­ing tad­pole phe­no­typic plas­tic­ity in com­mon frogs like the spring peeper. With their short bod­ies and deep tails, peep­ers tend to sac­ri­fice part of their tails dur­ing tad­pole de­vel­op­ment. One study found that 62.7% of peeper in­di­vid­u­als lost part of their tails dur­ing Gos­ner de­vel­op­men­tal stages 26-34. The pro­por­tion of the tail that was dam­aged was 8.5%. In later Gos­ner stages (35 - 43), only 34% of peep­ers ex­hib­ited tail dam­age, sug­gest­ing ei­ther that in­di­vid­u­als can re­ha­bil­i­tate tails or that in­jured in­di­vid­u­als do not sur­vive to the next stage. How­ever, spring peep­ers are one of the few species in this study that could tol­er­ate tail loss ex­ceed­ing 25% (some­times >50%). (Blair and Wasser­sug, 2000; Hin­shaw and Sul­li­van, 1990)

Ecosys­tem Roles

The spring peep­ers' role (as adults) is to feed on in­sects, which put it in com­pe­ti­tion with other am­phib­ians as well as dif­fer­ent spi­der species that feed on in­sects as well. Ver­nal pond preda­tors such as leeches, large in­sects, and sala­man­der lar­vae may de­pend on the spring peeper as a source of food.

Spring peep­ers are hosts to par­a­sites, in­clud­ing a pro­to­zoan species called Opalina ob­trigonoidea. (Blair and Wasser­sug, 2000; Delv­in­quier and Desser, 1996)

Com­men­sal/Par­a­sitic Species
  • Opalina ob­trigonoidea (a par­a­sitic pro­to­zoan)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Spring peep­ers may help to con­trol cer­tain in­sect pop­u­la­tions. (Blair and Wasser­sug, 2000)

  • Positive Impacts
  • controls pest population

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

There are no known ad­verse ef­fects of Pseudacris cru­cifer on hu­mans.

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

This is a rel­a­tively com­mon anu­ran within its range, but some states on the on the edge of its range give it spe­cial pro­tec­tion. It is listed as "Pro­tected" in New Jer­sey and "Threat­ened" in Kansas. (Lev­ell, 1997)

Other Com­ments

A re­cent study ex­am­ined the ef­fects of cli­mate change on anu­rans. In the case of the spring peeper, over the last 30 years, over­all start of breed­ing was not sig­nif­i­cantly ear­lier. How­ever, the au­thors did find a pos­i­tive re­la­tion­ship be­tween tem­per­a­ture and breed­ing date.

Pseudacris cru­cifer was for­merly known as Pseudacris cru­cifer, and is ref­er­enced as such in older book and ar­ti­cle ci­ta­tions. (Blaustein, et al., 2001)

Con­trib­u­tors

Jen­nifer Largett (au­thor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Mon­ica Mingo (au­thor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Jon Hirst (au­thor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Karen Pow­ers (ed­i­tor, in­struc­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity.

Sarah Gor­don (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

World Map

Neotropical

living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.

World Map

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

arboreal

Referring to an animal that lives in trees; tree-climbing.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

choruses

to jointly display, usually with sounds, at the same time as two or more other individuals of the same or different species

detritus

particles of organic material from dead and decomposing organisms. Detritus is the result of the activity of decomposers (organisms that decompose organic material).

duets

to jointly display, usually with sounds in a highly coordinated fashion, at the same time as one other individual of the same species, often a mate

ectothermic

animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature

external fertilization

fertilization takes place outside the female's body

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

freshwater

mainly lives in water that is not salty.

heterothermic

having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.

hibernation

the state that some animals enter during winter in which normal physiological processes are significantly reduced, thus lowering the animal's energy requirements. The act or condition of passing winter in a torpid or resting state, typically involving the abandonment of homoiothermy in mammals.

insectivore

An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.

introduced

referring to animal species that have been transported to and established populations in regions outside of their natural range, usually through human action.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

marsh

marshes are wetland areas often dominated by grasses and reeds.

metamorphosis

A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

natatorial

specialized for swimming

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

riparian

Referring to something living or located adjacent to a waterbody (usually, but not always, a river or stream).

saltatorial

specialized for leaping or bounding locomotion; jumps or hops.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

solitary

lives alone

suburban

living in residential areas on the outskirts of large cities or towns.

swamp

a wetland area that may be permanently or intermittently covered in water, often dominated by woody vegetation.

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

visual

uses sight to communicate

Ref­er­ences

De­Graaf, Richard M. and Deb­o­rah D. Rudis. Am­phib­ians and Rep­tiles of New Eng­land. The Uni­ver­sity of Mass­a­chu­setts Press, Amherst. 1983

Fra­zier, J. F. D. Am­phib­ians. Wyke­ham Pub­li­ca­tions Ltd., Lon­don. 1973

Froom, Bar­bara. Am­phib­ians of Canada. Mc­Clel­land and Stew­art Lim­ited, Toronto. 1982

Blair, J., R. Wasser­sug. 2000. Vari­a­tion in the pat­tern of preda­tor-in­duced dam­age to tad­pole tails. Copeia, 2000: 390-401. Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 15, 2007 at http://​www.​jstor.​org/​view/​00458511/​ap050459/​05a00060/​0.

Blaustein, A., L. Belden, D. Olson, D. Green, T. Root, J. Kiesecker. 2001. Am­phib­ian breed­ing and cli­mate change. Con­ser­va­tion Bi­ol­ogy, 15/6: 1804-1809.

Buell, M., W. Mar­shall. 1955. A study of the oc­curence of am­phib­ians in re­la­tion to bog su­ces­sion, Itasca State Park, Min­nesota. Ecol­ogy, 3: 381-387.

Co­nant, R., J. Collins. 1998. A Field Guide to Rep­tiles and Am­phib­ians. Boston, Mass­a­chu­setts, USA: Houghton Mif­flin Com­pany.

Delv­in­quier, B., S. Desser. 1996. Opalin­idae (Sar­co­mastigophora) in North Amer­i­can Am­phibia: genus Opalina Purk­inje and Valentin, 1835. Sys­tem­atic Par­a­sitol­ogy, 33 (1): 33-51.

Hin­shaw, S., B. Sul­li­van. 1990. Pre­da­tion on Hyla ver­si­color and Pseudacris cru­cifer dur­ing re­pro­duc­tion. Jour­nal of Her­petol­ogy, 24: 196-197. Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 15, 2007 at http://​www.​jstor.​org/​view/​00221511/​ap050082/​05a00130/​0.

Lance, S., K. Wells. 1993. Are Spring Peeper satel­lite males phys­i­o­log­i­cally in­fe­rior to call­ing males?. Copeia, 1993/4: 1162-1166.

Lev­ell, J. 1997. A Field Guide to Rep­tiles and the Law. 2nd ed.. Lanes­boro, Min­nesota: Ser­pent's Tale.

Oplinger, C. 1967. Food habits and feed­ing ac­tiv­ity of re­cently trans­formed and adult Hyla cru­cifer cru­cifer Weid.. Her­peto­log­ica, 23: 209-217.

Prather, J., J. Brig­gler. 2001. Use of small caves by anu­rans dur­ing a drought pe­riod in the Arkansas Ozarks. Jour­nal of Her­petol­ogy, 35 (4): 675-678.

Skelly, D. 1996. Pond Dry­ing, Preda­tors, and the Dis­tri­b­u­tion of Pseudacris Tad­poles. Copeia, 1996(3): 599-605. Ac­cessed Au­gust 24, 2007 at http://​www.​jstor.​org/​view/​00458511/​ap050444/​05a00100/​0.

Smith, D., J. Van­Burskirk. 1995. Phe­no­typic de­sign, plas­tic­ity, and eco­log­i­cal per­for­mance in two tad­pole species. Amer­i­can Nat­u­ral­ist, 145(2): 211-233.

Tyler, M. 1994. Stalk­ing Am­phib­ians. Maine Nat­u­ral­ist, 2: 33-44.

Wood­ward, B., S. Mitchell. 1990. Pre­da­tion on frogs in breed­ing cho­ruses. The South­west­ern Nat­u­ral­ist, 35: 449-450.

Zam­pella, R., J. Bun­nell. 2000. The dis­tri­b­u­tion of anu­rans in two river sys­tems of a Coastal Plain wa­ter­shed. Jour­nal of Her­petol­ogy, 34: 210-221. Ac­cessed Sep­tem­ber 05, 2007 at http://​www.​jstor.​org/​view/​00221511/​ap050122/​05a00080/​0.