Blanchard's cricket frog (''Acris blanchardi'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the family

Hylidae Hylidae is a wide-ranging family of frogs commonly referred to as " tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semiaquatic. Taxonomy and ...

. It is a small, dark colored frog that is threatened or endangered in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Studies have been done to see why the population of the

is beginning to decrease in those states. Blanchard's cricket frogs are commonly found in

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s, and/or near row crop agriculture. The average life span for this frog is about one year, which is why the species is considered to be short-lived. Little is known about the interactions and basic ecology, even though populations are decreasing. Blanchard's cricket frog was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the northern cricket frog.

Description

Blanchard's cricket frogs are a type of aquatic

tree frog A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia suborder have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not clos ...

s in North America. They have warty skin that is usually brown, gray, tan, or olive green, with darker bands of color on the legs. Their skin is also heavily vascularized, which allows substances to get into their bodies quickly, increasing their susceptibility to diseases. Due to this, handling with bare hands is unadvised. A dark, triangular mark between the eyes is frequently seen, and can be used to easily identify the species. Many different colors can be seen on certain specimen's backs, usually being either a dark red, orange, light green, or in rarer cases, a combination. They are small frogs, growing to in length on average. Blanchard's cricket frogs hibernate during the cold months, beginning in late October, and emerging from hibernation in late March or early April. Breeding occurs from mid-May to mid-July. Females lay small clusters or single eggs.

Tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s emerge in late summer. Breeding males have a metallic clicking call distinctive to the species. The subspecies is named after Frank N. Blanchard, a noted American

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

. The frogs are most commonly found in slow-moving or stagnant bodies of water, such as in

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s and

s, where reproduction takes place. Only a few survive until the second breeding season. If a breeding season isn't productive, the population for that area can decline.

Conservation

Blanchard's cricket frogs can be found through most of the Midwest United States, ranging from

and

in the north to southern

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in the south and from

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

in the west to

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

in the east. Although not listed at the federal level, Blanchard's cricket frogs are considered at risk in some states. It is an endangered species in

, and is a threatened species in Michigan, due to a significant population decline since the late 1970s.

Habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

, chemical contaminants, and competition for resources have been posited as reasons for this decline. Populations can still be found in the southern and western portions of Michigan's

Lower Peninsula The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

. In Minnesota, where the state's Department of Natural Resources includes ''A. blanchardi'' as a subspecies of ''A. crepitans'', both taxa are collectively considered endangered. ''A. blanchardi'' may also still be on

Pelee Island Pelee may refer to: *Pelee, Ontario, an island in Lake Erie, Canada *Point Pelee National Park, a park in Ontario, Canada *Mount Pelée, a volcano in Martinique *Peleus In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was ...

Ontario, Canada Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, but has not been reported since 1987.''Acris blanchardi'' Blanchard's Cricket Frog / ''Rainette Grillon de Blanchard''CARCNET
/ref> It was thought that competition by

Bullfrog ''Bullfrog'' is a common English language term to refer to large, aggressive frogs, regardless of species. Examples of bullfrogs include: Frog species Americas *Helmeted water toad (''Calyptocephalella gayi''), endemic to Chile *American bullf ...

s caused a decrease in the population of Blanchard's cricket frog, however, a study found no evidence that Bullfrog

tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s took enough resources from Blanchard's cricket frog

s to impact them. Another study of the immune defense traits of Blanchard's cricket frog showed that multiple factors can influence the

immune system The immune system is a network of biological systems that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to bacteria, as well as Tumor immunology, cancer cells, Parasitic worm, parasitic ...

of the

, for example water conductivity, water surface area, and ratio of natural to managed land. All of these factors were found to influence the skin microbiome of the frog, and compromise the frog's

. While some decreases in population are due to chemical contaminants and competition for resources, the major reason for the decrease is still unknown.

Gallery

File:Blanchard's Cricket Frog Red-Orange-Green Pattern.jpg, A Blanchard's cricket frog with a red-orange-green back stripe File:Blanchard's Cricket Frog Abnormal Light Patterns.jpg, A Blanchard's cricket frog with light patterns File:Blanchard's Cricket Frogs Major and Minor Red Stripes.jpg, Two Blanchard's cricket frogs, both with prominent red stripes File:Blanchard's Cricket Frog Patternless.jpg, A patternless Blanchard's cricket frog File:Blanchard's Cricket Frog Abnormal Green Patterns.jpg, A Blanchard's cricket frog with abnormal green patterns/moss File:Blanchard's Cricket Frog Dark Patterns.jpg, A Blanchard's cricket frog File:Acris blanchardi.jpg, Blanchard's cricket frog in Northwest Louisiana, United States.

References

{{Authority control Acris Frog, Blanchards Frog, Blanchards Frog, Blanchards Amphibians described in 1947 Taxa named by Francis Harper (biologist)