Occurrence Dot Map:

Data from 6668 occurrences (5106 museum vouchers). - 1506 museum vouchers > 30 yrs. - 3600 museum vouchers < 30 yrs. - 1562 observations. - 19 literature observations. 886 unique localities.

Collection/Observation Date Quartile Plot:

Collection/Observation by Hour: 1 6 12 18 24

Observation Type: 1 - DOR 12 - AOR 140 - Active, off-road 15 - Under cover 1476 - Chorusing 24 - Dead, off-road

Public Lands Records: 1 - Atchison State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area 4 - Baker University Wetlands 1 - Barber State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area 1 - Bourbon State Fishing Lake 4 - Bourbon Wildlife Area 21 - Brown State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area 5 - Byron Walker Wildlife Area 2 - Cedar Bluff Wildlife Area 1 - Chase State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area 35 - Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area 2 - Cimarron National Grassland 4 - Clinton Lake Project Lands 481 - Clinton Wildlife Area 3 - Copan Wildlife Area 15 - Crawford State Park 1 - Douglas State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area 4 - Fall River State Park 1 - Fall River Wildlife Area 12 - Fort Leavenworth 1 - Geary State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area 2 - Glen Elder Wildlife Area 1 - Green Wildlife Area 8 - Hillsdale Wildlife Area 1 - Hollister Wildlife Area 1 - Kanopolis State Park 17 - Kansas Ecological Reserves 5 - Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge 1 - Logan State Fishing Lake 32 - Marais Des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge 3 - Marais Des Cygnes Wildlife Area 1 - Mcpherson State Fishing Lake 25 - Meade State Park 4 - Mined Land Wildlife Area 33 - Montgomery State Fishing Lake 15 - Nemaha Wildlife Area 13 - Neosho State Fishing Lake 1 - Pottawatomie State Fishing Lake No. 2 3 - Prairie Dog State Park 2 - Sand Prairie Natural History Reservation 5 - Shawnee State Fishing Lake 12 - Sheridan Wildlife Area 9 - Sherman State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area 5 - Smoky Valley Ranch 8 - Spring River Wildlife Area 2 - Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve 7 - Webster Wildlife Area 1 - Wilson State Fishing Lake 4 - Woodson State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area

Recognition:
Their dorsal coloration varies widely, and includes greys, greens, browns, often in irregular blotching patterns.

Reproduction:
Breeding April to August.

Call Description:
Call sounds like two small pebbles or marbles being tapped together. The tapping starts out slowly, accelerates in tempo, and then slows.

<A HREF='calls/349-870.mp3'>[Play Call]</A>
Audio recording by Keith Coleman
Available from Kansas Heritage Photography

Behavior:
Prefers sunny ponds of shallow water with good growth of vegetation in the water or on shore; slow-moving streams with sunny banks. They are primarily diurnal. These frogs are often abundant but are difficult to catch as they hop among the grass and moss at the water's edge.

Food Habits:
Their primary diet is small insects, including mosquitoes.

Predators and Defense:
They in turn are predated upon by a number of species, including birds, fish, and other frogs. To escape predators, they are capable of leaping more than three feet in a single jump and are excellent swimmers.

Growth and Longevity:
The Northern Cricket Frogs is North America's smallest vertebrate, ranging from 0.75 to 1.5 inches (19–38 mm) long.
Largest specimen: KU 215686, Douglas County, Kevin R. Toal, 24 May 1990, 33 mm (1 5/16 inches), Collins (1993).

Taxonomy:
McCallum and Trauth (2006) stated that based on patterns of morphological variation, "Acris crepitans blanchardi" does not appear to be a valid taxon. However, the most recent comprehensive analysis was provided by Gamble et al. 2008, in which they elevated blanchardi to specific status.

Fossil Record:
Pleistocene fossils are known from Rice, Ellsworth, and Meade counties.

Remarks:
Despite repeated attempts to do so, this taxon has not been rediscovered in the Northwest, Southwest, or the along the Western border of the state where previous records exist.
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.

References:
2006. Altig, Ronald, Roy W. McDiarmid, Kimberly A. Nichols, and Paul C. Ustach. Tadpoles of the United States and Canada: A Tutorial and Key. Electronic files accessible at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/tadpole/. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, USA.. : pp. .
2008. Gamble, Tony, Peter B. Berendzen, H. Bradley Shaffer, David E. Starkey, and Andrew Simons. Species limites and phylogeography of North American cricket frogs (Acris: Hylidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 48: pp. 112-125.
2010. Collins, Joseph T., Suzanne L. Collins, and Travis W. Taggart. Amphibians, Reptiles, and Turtles of Kansas. Eagle Mountain Publishing., Provo, Utah. Pp. 400.