North GroundHuntNorth Ground Hunt — return to North Ground
Species authority page

Pine woods treefrog

Hyla femoralis · Frogs and toads · Amphibians

Pine woods treefrog (Hyla femoralis): About 4-4.5 cm; reddish brown to gray-green with dark blotches and sometimes a dark band through the eye and eardrum. Orange to silver spots or blotches on the rear of the thighs. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

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

Scientific name
Hyla femoralis
Family
Hylidae
In North America
Native
Range
Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains from southern Virginia to eastern Louisiana and south to southern Florida. Not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

About 4-4.5 cm; reddish brown to gray-green with dark blotches and sometimes a dark band through the eye and eardrum. [1][2]

Orange to silver spots or blotches on the rear of the thighs. [1][2]

Expanded rounded toe pads. [1][2]

Breeding male has a dark throat. [1][2]

Call is a raspy staccato, like Morse code or a cicada. [1][2]

Compared with the squirrel treefrog: Light stripe on the upper jaw and no orange spots on the thighs. [1][2]

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 pine woods treefrog before you act. Compared with the squirrel treefrog: Light stripe on the upper jaw and no orange spots on the thighs.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Longleaf pine-wiregrass flatwoods and savannas and pine-turkey oak sandhills near bogs or ponds; occasionally hardwood forests and swamps. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Mostly arboreal, perching from low shrubs to treetops; most active at night in spring through fall. [1][2]

Calls from vegetation up to about 3 m above water, often as rain approaches. [1][2]

Hides in or under rotting logs, stumps or snags in dry or cold weather; larvae metamorphose in 7-10 weeks. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

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

Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains from southern Virginia to eastern Louisiana and south to southern Florida. Not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology