Identification- 2-4" (5-10 cm) A medium sized spotted frog. Ground color is green, brown, or a mixture of the two. There are two or three rows of irregular rounded spots down the back. Spots have light borders. Dorsolateral ridges are light yellow to white. Normally no white spot on center of tympanum.
    Voice- Paired vocal sacs. Lasting up to three seconds, the voice of the Northern Leopard Frog is a low reverberating snore ending in a cluck-like grunt.
    Similar Species- Pickerel Frogs have square spots and yellow or orange color under hind legs. Southern Leopard Frogs are found are less widespread, have a white spot in the center of the tympanic membrane, and spots on back elongate and do not have light borders. In addition, the vocal sacs of the male are visible at rest and both sexes have a more pointed snout than the Northern Leopard Frog.

Range- Spotty distribution. Found throughout most of our range, but absent from wide areas of New York and Pennsylvania where it is outnumbered or replaced by the Pickerel and Southern Leopard Frogs.
 

Habitat- Most common in wet meadows and fields bordering water. Marshes and ponds bordering these grasslands are potential breeding sites. During the summer they spend much time on land, using vegetation as a shield from the sun.

Reproduction- Emerges early in the spring - late March to early April. Mating begins soon after emergence in shallow weed-choked waters. Females attach 5-6,000 eggs to stalks of vegetation. The eggs hatch 4 days to almost a month later, depending on the temperature. Metamorphosis occurs 2-3 months later, in July and August.

General Characteristics-
Nocturnal. These frogs are abundant in some areas and rare or absent in others with similar habitats. Reasons for this are unknown. They are agile jumpers and can be quite difficult to catch. As they leap among the meadow they are easily lost. The pattern of spotting on the back and sides serves to break up the frogs pattern in the patchy light under the grasses, making it difficult to locate one after it stops jumping. These frogs are common laboratory animals.