Blanchards Cricket Frog

February 12
It was a cool, clear day, breezy, around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. We were at Harpers Run,a section of a river, in Oxford, Ohio. Someone found Acris Crepitans, or Blanchard's Cricket Frog. It was very small, grey, with the dark triangle between its eyes. Skin is textured Blanchard's Cricket Frogs are usually very tiny, less then 1 1/4 inches. They are a member of the tree frog family, Hylidae. They are found in SW Michigan, Ohio,Wisconsin, etc. There habitats need have water and with some form of vegetation. They can usually be found on the edges of ponds and streams or slightly submerged at the waters edge. They are diurnal in spring and nocturnal through the summer months. They reach sexual maturity at 1 year of age. Males will mate with any female and females can lay up to 300 eggs. There is a tadpole stage where they have a black tipped tale which is only seen in their species. They metamorphose during the summer. The lifespan is approximately 16 months. They are insectivorous. A small fact, a population of 100 cricket frogs living near a pond eat as much as 480,000 insects in one season.

Ryan D.