Acris crepitans is 1.6-3.5 cm long and has a blunt, pointed head with an occasional triangular marking. Its back and legs are covered with various dark markings. It has a middorsal bright green or brown stripe and the rear of its thigh has a distinct ragged dark stripe. A white bar extends from its eye to its foreleg. The body is slim-waisted and small while the skin is granular and warty. Hind toes are extensively webbed and toe pads are poorly developed (Stebbins 2003).

Acris crepitans paludicola and Acris crepitans blanchardi are recognized as subspecies. A. c. paludicola has smooth skin with a pinkish patterned coloration. The throat remains pink, even for males during breeding season. A. c. blanchardi by comparison is wartier, bulkier, and heavier with a light brown or gray uniform coloration (Conant and Collins 1991).

Males have more ventral spotting than females (Stebbins 2003).
 

Hear Northern Cricket Frog calls at the Western Sound Archive.

This species is known from southeastern New York, the southern Great Lakes region, and southern South Dakota to southeastern New Mexico, southern Texas, USA, and adjacent Mexico, and the Gulf Coast east to northwestern Florida. Isolated populations occur on the Coastal Plain of South Carolina. In Canada, it is restricted to Point Pelee (formerly) and Pelee Island in extreme southwestern Ontario (Oldham and Campbell, 1990 COSEWIC report).

Eastern and middle United States, Michigan to Northeastern Mexico, entering the short grass plains of eastern Colorado and northern Mexico along rivers (Stebbins 1966).

Unlike most small frogs in its range, A. c. crepitans does not leave the vicinity of water as an adult. It is found at the edge of ponds and slow-moving streams, tending to avoid wooded areas and dense vegetation (Hulse McCoy and Censky 2001).

A. c. blanchardi is found in Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska, eastern Colorado, and most of Texas. A few have been spotted in Minnesota and New Mexico as well. A. c. paludicola is found in marshes ranging from southwestern Louisiana to southeastern Texas (Conant and Collins 1991).

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 southeastern New York and Pennsylvania southward through New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware eastern West Virginia, eastern Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, western Florida, and part of eastern Louisiana; distribution is east of the Mississippi River and south of the Ohio River (Gamble et al. 2008).

A. crepitans is a small (0.75 to 1.5 inches), slim-waisted frog with slender webbed toes and a triangle mark on the head. Dorsal coloration can be gray, light brown with dark bands on legs. There is a white bar from eye to base of foreleg. The skin is bumpy. Males have a single vocal pouch. A. crepitans is a non-climbing member of tree frog family (Barket 1964, Stebbins 1966).

It may be confused with the Striped Chorus Frog which has a whitish stripe along upper lip and length-wise brownish stripe on sides and back, toes slightly webbed. Northern Spring Peeper has smooth skin and x-shaped marking on back (Harding 1997).

Length: 4 cm

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Terrestrial
• Freshwater

A. crepitans lives on the edges of ponds and streams with submerged or emergent vegetation (Stebbins 1966).

Aquatic Biomes: lakes and ponds; rivers and streams

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.

Main diet is insects, including mosquitos.

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.

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.

Range lifespan

Status: captivity: 4.9 (high) years.

Maximum longevity: 4.9 years (captivity) Observations: In the wild, these animals are short-lived. Even so, their maximum longevity may be underestimated as it is based on only a few captive animals.

A. crepitans reaches sexual maturity at one year. Winter to summer, active all year except midwinter in the north. Female responds to male calls April through May and beginning of August. Call sounds like a metallic "gick, gick," resembles steely marbles, lasting approximately one second long. Eggs are less in number than other frogs. One at a time are laid and attached to plants in a pond or pool, while the male releases his sperm. Eggs hatch in a few days. Tadpoles have a black tipped tail unlike any other tadpole. Metamorphosis occurs between July and August (Conant & Collins 1991, Harding 1997).

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.

This species was common until the early 1970's. It is uncertain why the decline happened so quickly. Suspected reasons are drought, increased use of pesticides, fertilization, highway salts and other pollutants. Low populations and short life span limit recovery. Acris crepitans blanchardii disappeared in some sites, but remains common in southern and western regions. This subspecies is listed as special concern in the state of Michigan. It is important to monitor existing populations and to identify and preserve known habitats. MI has a volunteer frog survey program, through the MDNR wildlife division, Lansing. Residents in other states can contact their local DNR.(NPWRC 1999, Harding 1997).

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: special concern

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

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 eastern North America.

Intrinsic Vulnerability: Moderately vulnerable

Environmental Specificity: Moderate. Generalist or community with some key requirements scarce.

Population

Population Trend

Global Short Term Trend: Relatively stable to decline of 30%

Comments: This frog appears to be relatively stable and common in most of its range.

Global Long Term Trend: Increase of 10-25% to decline of 30%

Comments: Likely relatively stable in extent of occurrence, probably less than 25% decline in population size, area of occurrence, and number/condition of occurrences.

Vocal calls are like the rapid clicking of pebbles, making a "metallic gick gick gick" sound. Rate of vocals is about 1 to 3 calls every second. Breeding period usually lasts from April to July (Conant and Collins 1991). Males can be seen calling from floating vegetation mats or from the banks of ponds. Females seem to prefer males that call at a low pitch.

It is active during both day and night in warm weather but only active during the day in spring and autumn. Acris crepitans is an extraordinary leaper and can leap up to 38 times their standard body length (Hammerson 1999).

It is carnivorous, eating various invertebrates and arthropods such as beetles, flies, spiders, ants, and true bugs (Hulse McCoy and Censky 2001).

Major Threats

Acris crepitans has declined in the north and northwestern part of its range for various reasons revolving around habitat change (Stebbins 2003).

Conservation Actions

Global Protection: Several to many (4-40) occurrences appropriately protected and managed

Comments: The range of this species overlaps with at least several protected areas.

Important to humans for research and management. Used as an indicator species of water quality. Also used to measure pond and stream ecological standards (NPWRC 1999).

A. c. blanchardi or Blanchard's Cricket Frog is named after the herpetologist at the University of Michigan, Frank Nelson Blanchard (Conant and Collins 1991).

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).