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Species authority page

Southern chorus frog

Pseudacris nigrita · Frogs and toads · Amphibians

Southern chorus frog (Pseudacris nigrita): Small; males 21-30 mm, females 22-33 mm snout-vent; light gray to tan, brown or black with blackish stripes or spots in three rows. White line along the pointed snout and upper lip, dark band through the eye; skin with small warts. 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
Pseudacris nigrita
Family
Hylidae
In North America
Native
Range
Southeastern coast of the United States: Florida, southern Georgia, eastern South Carolina and North Carolina (north to the Tar and Pamlico Rivers), west to southern Alabama and Mississippi, with a disjunct population in southeastern Virginia. Not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Small; males 21-30 mm, females 22-33 mm snout-vent; light gray to tan, brown or black with blackish stripes or spots in three rows. [1][2]

White line along the pointed snout and upper lip, dark band through the eye; skin with small warts. [1][2]

No stripe on the rear of the thighs; rear toes weakly webbed. [1][2]

Breeding males have a dark (olive or rusty orange) throat. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Pine flatwoods, pine-oak forests, sandhills and disturbed areas; breeds in flooded grassy depressions, roadside ditches, pond margins and temporary pools. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Mostly nocturnal, though males may call by day around dusk; breeds from fall to early spring (winter peak) in the north and in any month in Florida, often after heavy rain. [1][2]

Seldom found outside the breeding season; burrows or hides when conditions are poor; sexually mature at 1 year and few live longer. [1][2]

Opportunistic insectivore; moves between wetlands and upland pine forest. [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

Southeastern coast of the United States: Florida, southern Georgia, eastern South Carolina and North Carolina (north to the Tar and Pamlico Rivers), west to southern Alabama and Mississippi, with a disjunct population in southeastern Virginia. 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, Animal Diversity Web · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web