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

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

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 s ...

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

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. 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

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

ponds A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

, 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 The northern cricket frog (''Acris crepitans'') is a species of small hylid frog native to the United States and northeastern Mexico. These frogs are majorly in grey, green, and brown color with blotching patterns. Despite being members of the t ...

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 have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not closely relat ...

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 is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

s emerge in late summer. Breeding males have a metallic clicking call distinctive to the species. The subspecies is named after

Frank N. Blanchard Frank Nelson Blanchard (December 19, 1888 – September 21, 1937) was an American herpetologist, and professor of zoology at the University of Michigan from which institution he received his Ph.D. He is credited with describing several new subspec ...

, a noted American

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

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

streams 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 stream ...

and

, 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 (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the south and from

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

in the west to

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

in the east. Although not listed at the

federal level Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

, 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 and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, 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: * Île Pelée, an island off Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, France *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 mytholo ...

Ontario, Canada Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, 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

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

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

tadpoles A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found in ...

took enough resources from Blanchard's cricket frog

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 processes that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, as well as cancer cells and objects such as wood splinte ...

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

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4675132 Acris Frog, Blanchards Frog, Blanchards Frog, Blanchards Frog, Blanchards Amphibians described in 1947 Taxa named by Francis Harper (biologist)