to East Texas. Conservation Frogs such as A. crepitans are important as an indicator of wetland health and general environmental quality in the areas they inhabit. Speciation The genus Acris is composed of two species: A. crepitans and A. gryllus. Northern vs. southern cricket frog The southern cricket frog has longer legs, with less webbing on the hind feet, and a more pointed snout, though northern cricket frogs have been observed with snouts indistinguishable from those of the southern species, and the markings on the back of the thigh are typically more sharply defined than that of the northern cricket frog, though biologists have recorded northern cricket frogs in the northern fringes of their range with extremely sharp posterior leg stripes. Compared to its southern counterpart, A. Crepitans is a stronger swimmer due to having more complete webbing on its feet. Additionally, it is less likely to hop on the water surface than the southern cricket frog. Northern cricket frogs in Mississippi live in open mud flats, call far from shore, and quickly dive into water when disturbed. Southern cricket frogs inhabit low vegetation near shores, call near shore, and escape into vegetation, and quickly return to land when forced into water. Sub-species Eastern cricket frog, A. c. crepitans (Baird, 1854) Coastal cricket frog, A. c. paludicola (Burger, Smith and Smith, 1949) Diet The diet of Northern cricket frogs is strongly correlated with what is abundant and available. The most abundant above-ground invertebrates are dipterans, homopterans and spiders. Cricket frogs consume more ground-dwelling prey but such prey account for less volume of food consumed. Bigger frogs consume prey of longer length: less ants, springtails, mites and more leafhoppers, damselflies, butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, crickets. Cricket frogs generally feed little on aquatic species. A study of 279 A. crepitan stomach contents showed that ground prey composed of 45.6% of prey and 20.7% of the stomach volume, above ground prey composed of 33% prey and 38.7% volume, and aquatic prey composed of 3.2% prey and 5.0% volume, with the remaining being unidentified prey and non-prey items. Mating Breeding generally occurs from late spring through the summer (May through August). The males call from emergent vegetation with a high-pitched, short, pebble-like call which is repeated at an increasing rate. The sound suggests pebbles being clicked together, much like a cricket, hence the name. These click-like pulses are combined to form calls, and calls are