Frogs and Toads of Louisiana

Louisiana is home to a great variety of different frogs and toads. If you need help identifying a frog or toad, check out this page – Frog Identification

Frogs

True Frog Family – Ranidae

The True Frogs are your typical frogs that you find along the shores of a lake or pond.

American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana)

Common Name: American Bullfrog
Scientific Name: Rana catesbeiana
Location: Throughout state
Breeding Season:

The American Bullfrog is the largest frog in the North America. The males have bright yellow throats while the females have white throat.

Green Frog / Bronze Frog (Rana clamitans)

Common Name: Green Frog
Scientific Name: Rana clamitans
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Pig Frog
Scientific Name: Rana grylio
Location: Southern half of the state
Breeding Season:

American Bullfrog looks very similar to the Green Frog but the dorsal ridge wraps around the tympanum while the Green Frog’s dorsal ridge is incomplete and does not extend all the way to its rear. The American Bullfrog is also very similar to the Pig Frog but the Pig Frog has bolder spots / stripes on the back of its thighs while the Bullfrog has light spots.

Common Name: Pickeral Frog
Scientific Name: Rana palustris
Location: Northern part
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Southern Leopard Frog
Scientific Name: Rana sphenocephalus
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

Pickeral Frog and the Southern Leopard Frog look very much a like. The Pickeral Frog has more square shaped spots on its back while the Southern Leopard frog has more circular ones.

Common Name: Crawfish Frog
Scientific Name: Rana areolatus
Location: Western half
Breeding Season:

The Crawfish Frog gets its name from living in crawfish holes. Its has skin fold on the side and a small typanum.

Common Name: Dusky Gopher Frog
Scientific Name: Rana sevosus
Location: Probably extinct in the state
Breeding Season:

The Dusky Gopher Frog was historically found in Louisiana but hasn’t been sighted in the state for at least 20 years.

Tree Frog Family – Hylidae

Not all the members of the tree frog family lives in the trees. You can find many of them on the ground. In the state, the family has 3 different genera that the tree frogs are separated into.

Cricket Frogs – Acris

Common Name: Blanchard’s Cricket Frog
Scientific Name: Acris blanchardi
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Southern Cricket Frog
Scientific Name: Acris gryllus
Location: Eastern edge
Breeding Season:

The Cricket Frogs look really similar but there’s a few ways to tell them apart. The Southern Cricket Frog has a more pointed snout while the Northern Cricket Frog has a more blunt snout. The Southern Cricket Frog doesn’t have as much webbing on the back legs as the Northern Cricket Frog.

Tree Frogs – Hyla

Cope’s Gray Frog (Hyla chrysoscelis) and  Eastern Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor)

Common Name: Eastern Gray Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla versicolor
Location: Eastern part of the state
Breeding Season:

The Gray Tree Frog and the Cope’s Gray Tree Frog are identical besides their calls and chromosome numbers.

Here is a video of some Eastern Gray Tree Frog males calling that I took

Common Name: Cope’s Gray Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla chrysoscelis
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Pinewood’s Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla femoralis
Location: Southeast corner
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Bird-voiced Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla avicoca
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

The Gray Tree Frogs, Pinewoods Frog, and the Bird-Voiced Frog look very much a like. The difference is the coloration on the inner thigh. Gray Tree Frogs have a brighter orange color on the thigh while the Bird-Voiced Frog is more greenish-yellow. The Pinewoods Frog has dots / spots on the inner thigh.

Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea)

Common Name: Green Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla cinerea
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Squirrel Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla squirella
Location: Everywhere besides the far north
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Barking Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla gratiosas
Location: Southeastern corner of the state
Breeding Season:

The Green Tree Frog, Squirrel Tree Frog, and Barking Tree Frog are all very similar. The Barking Tree Frog has much rougher skin than the others. The Green Tree Frog has a white line down its back.

Chorus Frog – Pseudacris

Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)

Common Name: Spring Peeper
Scientific Name: Pseudacrus crucifer
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

The Spring Peeper is known for it’s X shape on it’s back. It’s call is one of the first signs of spring.

Common Name: Cajun Chorus Frog
Scientific Name: Pseudacris fouquettei
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

The Cajun Chorus Frog is the most common chorus frog you will see in the state. It has three stripes down it’s back.

Strecker’s Chorus Frog (Pseudacris streckeri)

Common Name: Strecker’s Chorus Frog
Scientific Name: Pseudacris streckeri
Location: Northeastern part of Louisiana
Breeding Season:

Strecker’s Chorus Frog is listed as S1 (critically imperiled in Louisiana because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer known extant populations)) by the state.

Common Name: Ornate Chorus Frog
Scientific Name: Pseudacris ornata
Location: No longer found in the state
Breeding Season:

The Ornate Chorus Frog lacks any solid stripes down it’s back if you are lucky to see one. They have been listed as extirpated from the state. Historically, they were found in Southeastern part of the state.

Toads

True Toad Family – Bufonidae

The True Toads are your typical toad. They usually have a parotid gland behind their eyes that contain a poison called  It is not advised to let your dog eat these guys.

Common Name: Oak Toad
Scientific Name: Anaxyrus quercicus
Location: Southeastern corner of the state
Breeding Season:

The Oak Toad is the most easily identifiable toad in the state. It is the smallest of the group and has a light line down its back. The Oak Toad also has orange on the bottom of its feet.

American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus)

Common Name: American Toad
Scientific Name: Anaxyrus americanus
Location: Northeastern border
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Fowler’s Toad
Scientific Name: Anaxyrus fowleri
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Southern Toad
Scientific Name: Anaxyrus terrestris
Location: Eastern edge of the state
Breeding Season:

The remaining three species of toads in Louisiana are a lot harder to distinguish between. To identify the differences, you have to look at the top of the head. The Southern Toad has knobs on the back of its head. The Fowler’s Toad’s parotid gland touches its post orbital ridge around its eye while the American Toads’s parotid gland does not touch or connected to it by a spur. Here’s an easy map I found that helps me.

Common Name: Coastal Plains Toad
Scientific Name: Incilius nebulifer
Location: Southern half
Breeding Season:

The Coastal Plains Toad is notable from the other toads because its in a different genus -Incilius. This genus has a more defined cranial crest than Anaxyrus.

Spadefoot Toad Family – Scaphiopodidae

Common Name: Eastern Spadefoot Toad
Scientific Name: Scaphiopus holbrookii
Location: Eastern edge
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Hurter’s Spadefoot Toad
Scientific Name: Scaphious hurteri
Location: Northeastern corner of the state
Breeding Season:

The Eastern Spadefoot Toad and the Hurter’s Spadefoot Toad look a like. They both have sickle shaped spades on their feet. The Hurter’s Spadefoot Toad has a boss or bump between the eyes and the Eastern Spadefoot doesn’t.

Narrow Mouthed Toad Family – Microhylidae

Common Name: Eastern Narrow Mouthed Toad
Scientific Name: Gastrophryne carolinensis
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

The Eastern Narrow Mouthed Toad is the only narrowed mouth toad in the state. It lacks spades on it’s feet and paratoid gland behind it’s eye.

Introduced

Common Name: Rio Grande Chirping Frog
Scientific Name: Eleutherodactylus cystignathoides
Location: Southern edge
Breeding Season:

The Rio Grande Chirping Frog was possibly introduced to the state through the import of plants for greenhouses.

Common Name: Greenhouse Frog
Scientific Name: Eleutherodactylus planirostris
Location: Southern edge
Breeding Season:

The Green House Frog was accidentally introduced by shipments of plants, hence the name Green House Frog.

Common Name: Cuban Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Osteopilus septentrionalis
Location: Southeastern Louisiana
Breeding Season:

The Cuban Tree Frog is a large tree frog from obviously Cuba. They have a gigantic appetite which causes them to be highly destructive to the ecosystem.