Acris blanchardi is a small (1.6-3.8 cm), moist-skinned hylid frog. Hind limbs are long relative to the body. The dorsal surface is warty while ventral skin is granular. Dorsal coloration is variable but typically gray or brown. Pattern can be variable but most individuals have a dark triangle, pointed posteriorly, on the head, between the eyes. Many individuals possess a tan, brown, red, or green medial stripe. The upper jaw has a series of vertical, dark bars. Most individuals possess a ragged, dark stripe on the thigh. The subgular vocal sac becomes darker, occasionally tinged with yellow, during the breeding season. Hind toes are extensively webbed with poorly-developed toe pads (Collins 1993; Conant and Collins 1991; Trauth et al. 2004; Vogt 1981).

Tadpoles are elongate with narrow caudal fins. Eyes are positioned laterally. Acris blanchardi tadpoles typically possess a distinctive black tail-tip, which is thought to direct predators, such as dragonfly larvae, away from the body. The black tail tip is not present in all populations and tadpoles developing in streams with fish tend to have light tail tips (Caldwell 1982; Vogt 1981).

 
Acris blanchardi was formerly considered a subspecies of Acris crepitans. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear genes suggest that A. blanchardi is a distinct species (Gamble et al. 2008). The subspecies Acris crepitans paludicola, which occupies a limited area along the Gulf Coast from Houston, Texas to central Louisiana, is phylogenetically allied with A. blanchardi but its distinct behavior and coloration may still warrant separate taxonomic status (Rose et al. 2006).

To hear a call for this species, click on the Fonozoo link at the top of this page.

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: (200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)) Range extends from southwestern South Dakota, southern Minnesota, central Wisconsin, southern Michigan, extreme southwestern Ontario (formerly), and northern Ohio south to southern Texas, part of immediately adjacent extreme northeastern Mexico, and southern Louisiana; west to northeastern Colorado (at least formerly) and eastern New Mexico (Gamble et al. 2008). Documented range is west of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River, except for small areas along the east side of the lower Mississippi River and south of the Ohio River in northern Kentucky.

Blanchard’s cricket frog (A. blanchardi) is widely distributed north of the Ohio River and, in the southern U.S., west of the Mississippi River. Several populations in western Mississippi and one population in northern Kentucky appear on the southeastern side of this tentative boundary. Acris blanchardi occurs in the following U.S. states: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin (Conant and Collins 1991; Gamble et al. 2008).

Paratype for Acris crepitans paludicola
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Amphibians & Reptiles
Preparation: Ethanol
Year Collected: 1948
Locality: Sabine Pass, 5 mi W of, Jefferson, Texas, United States, North America

Habitat Type: Freshwater

Comments: This species inhabits the edges of sunny marshes, marshy ponds, and small slow-moving streams in open country. It may periodically range into adjacent nonwetland habitats in some regions. Eggs and larvae develop in the shallow water of ponds, marshes, ditches, slow streams, springs, or rain pools. Hibernation sites are underground on land near water; may hibernate communally (e.g., McCallum and Trauth 2003).

Non-Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species do not make significant seasonal migrations. Juvenile dispersal is not considered a migration.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Comments: Metamorphosed frogs eat various small invertebrates obtained near or in water. Larvae eat suspended matter, organic debris, algae, and plant tissue.

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 81 to >300

Comments: This species is represented by many and/or large occurrences throughout most of the range. Recently found at only 19 of 44 historical sites in southwestern Wisconsin (Jung 1992).

100,000 to >1,000,000 individuals

Comments: Total adult population size is unknown but likely is at least several 100,000s. This frog is common in many areas.

Comments: Inactive during coldest months in north and at higher elevations, active throughout the year in areas with mild winter weather. Diurnal during cool weather, active day and night in warmer months.

Lays clutch of up to a few hundred eggs in spring or summer, breeding earlier in south than in north. Aquatic larvae metamorphose in summer. Sexually mature in first year.

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NH - Possibly Extirpated

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Reasons: Widespread and common in much of range in central United States, but major declines have occurred in northern part of range; cause of declines is uncertain, may involve differnet factors in different areas.

Global Short Term Trend: Unknown

Comments: Trend over the past 10 years or three generations is unknown.

Global Long Term Trend: Decline of 30-50%

Comments: This frog has declined in the northern part of its distribution but remains apparently stable and common in most of its range. It has declined in Ontario, southeastern Michigan (Lehtinen 2002), Wisconsin (Jung 1992; Hay 1998, in Lannoo 1998), Minnesota (Oldfield and Moriarty 1994), Indiana (Brodman et al. 2002), Illinois (Mierzwa, in Lannoo 1998), Iowa (Hemesath, in Lannoo 1998), Colorado (Hammerson and Livo 1999), and probably elsewhere. In southeastern Michigan, it is apparently extirpated in 58 of 60 historical locations (Lehtinen 2002) (but species is extant in at least a few dozen sites in southwestern Michigan).

Males call from February to July in Texas (Wright and Wright, 1949), late April to mid-July in Missouri and Kansas (Collins 1993; Johnson 2000), from late May through July in Wisconsin (Vogt 1981). The call is a metallic "gick, gick, gick" and sounds like two stones being struck together (Trauth et al. 2004). Male frogs will often call during the day.

Acris blanchardi is typically the most abundant frog throughout its range although populations are declining across the northern and western portions of their range (see Trends and Threats).

Degree of Threat: BC

Comments: This species appears to be significantly threatened primarily in the northern portion of its range. The reasons for the declines remain speculative but vegetation succession, climatic fluctuations, predation by native and exotic species, competition from other frog species, and water pollution caused by pesticides and/or other chemicals associated with agriculture are possibly significant (Harding 1997, Lannoo 1998, Hammerson 1999, Hammerson and Livo 1999).

Acris blanchardi has declined dramatically in the northern and western part of its range (Baker 1997; Gray and Brown 2005; Hammerson and Livo 1999; Hay 1998; Lannoo 1998; Lehtinen and Skinner 2006). This phenomenon first came to light in the 1970s, and has continued to the present (Hay 1998; Lehtinen, 2002; Vogt, 1981). Possible causes for decline include climate change (Hay 1998; Irwin 2005), habitat alteration (Lannoo 1998), pollution (Reeder et al. 2005), and habitat fragmentation (Hay 1998).

Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris blanchardi) is named in honor of herpetologist Frank Nelson Blanchard (1888-1937; Harper 1947).

Comments: Based on patterns of morphological variation, "Acris crepitans blanchardi" does not appear to be a valid taxon (McCallum and Trauth 2006). According to Crother (2008), "Two nominal subspecies have not been formally rejected though they are infrequently recognized. Whether these represent arbitrary or historical units is unknown and this requires further investigation." In contrast, a phylogeographic analysis by Gamble et al. (2008), based on mtDNA and nDNA, found that "existing A. crepitans subspecies, defined by morphology and call types, do not match the distributions of evolutionary lineages recovered using...genetic data." Gamble et al. revised the distributions of blanchardi and crepitans in the south-central part of their combined ranges and recognized A. blanchardi and A. crepitans as distinct species. This change was adopted by Frost (Amphibian Species of the World website) and Collins and Taggart (2009), but not Crother et al. (2008).