This species is largely terrestrial. It can be found in moist woods, sand prairies, ravines, along streams and swamps, around ponds, and cultivated areas. It can be found in sand prairies and cultivated fields in south-eastern Missouri and adjacent Arkansas. It burrows into soil when inactive, using its forelimbs. Eggs and larvae develop in flooded fields, ditches, sloughs, small ponds, or other temporary bodies of water. It seems able to cope with at least a degree of habitat modification.

This species occurs in fragmented patches from central Illinois and south-eastern Missouri, south to north-eastern Arkansas in the United States (Frost 2021).

Conservation Actions In-Place
This species occurs in many protected areas throughout its range, however, protection of remaining habitat in Missouri is needed.