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Northern leopard frog

Lithobates pipiens · Frogs and toads · Amphibians

Northern leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens): Slim, long-legged, green or brownish. Well-defined round or oval dark spots with pale borders. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and dateOpen the northern leopard frog map

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Northern leopard frog sitting in grass
Adobe Stock · Free asset, Standard License (asset 483389482)
Scientific name
Lithobates pipiens
Family
Ranidae
In North America
Native
Range
Great Slave Lake, Hudson Bay and Labrador south to southern New England, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Mexico and Arizona, west to southeastern British Columbia and eastern Washington/Oregon; spotty and partly introduced in the west.
Biology

How to identify it

Slim, long-legged, green or brownish. [1]

Well-defined round or oval dark spots with pale borders. [1]

Pale dorsolateral ridges not inset at the rear; white stripe on the upper jaw. [1]

Adults 5-9 cm, occasionally to 11 cm. [1]

Compared with the pickerel frog: Squarish spots and yellow or orange on the hidden hind-limb and groin surfaces. [1]

Compared with the plains leopard frog: Never green, usually a pale spot on the eardrum, ridge rear ends inset. [1]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a northern leopard frog before you act. Compared with the pickerel frog: Squarish spots and yellow or orange on the hidden hind-limb and groin surfaces.[1]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Near springs, slow streams, marshes, bogs, ponds and lakes with rooted aquatic vegetation; wet meadows in summer. [1]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Egg laying about April in southern Québec and the Great Lakes, later farther north [1]

Summer use of wet meadows and fields [1]

Eats small invertebrates at the water's edge or in fields [1]

Regulatory handoff

Where it is listed for legal take

These authorities list this species for legal take in their own regulations.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Great Slave Lake, Hudson Bay and Labrador south to southern New England, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Mexico and Arizona, west to southeastern British Columbia and eastern Washington/Oregon; spotty and partly introduced in the west.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe