Blanchard's cricket frog facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Blanchard's cricket frog |
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The Blanchard's cricket frog (Acris blanchardi) is a tiny frog that belongs to the Hylidae family, also known as tree frogs. These small, dark-colored frogs are facing serious challenges in places like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, where their numbers are shrinking. Scientists are studying why these frog populations are decreasing.
You can often find Blanchard's cricket frogs living in wetlands, ponds, or near farms. They usually live for about one year, which means they have a very short lifespan. Even though their populations are getting smaller, we don't know much about their daily lives or how they interact with their environment. The Blanchard's cricket frog used to be considered a type of northern cricket frog.
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What Does the Blanchard's Cricket Frog Look Like?
Blanchard's cricket frogs have bumpy skin. Their skin is usually brown, gray, tan, or olive green. They also have darker stripes on their legs. Their skin has many tiny blood vessels. This means things can get into their bodies quickly, which might make them sick more easily.
You can often spot a dark, triangle-shaped mark between their eyes. These frogs are quite small, growing to about 0.6 inches (1.5 cm) long. They prefer to live in slow-moving or still water. They are the most water-loving of all the tree frogs in North America.
Life Cycle of the Frog
These frogs go into a deep sleep called hibernation when it gets cold. They start hibernating in late October and wake up in late March or early April. They begin to breed from mid-May to mid-July. Female frogs lay their eggs in small groups or one by one. The baby frogs, called tadpoles, hatch in late summer.
Male frogs make a special metallic clicking sound to attract mates. This sound is unique to their species. These frogs are most often found in streams and wetlands where they lay their eggs. Only a few frogs live long enough to breed a second time. If a breeding season isn't successful, the number of frogs in that area can drop quickly. The frog is named after Frank N. Blanchard, a famous American scientist who studied reptiles and amphibians.
Why Are These Frogs Disappearing?
Blanchard's cricket frogs live across much of the central United States. You can find them from Michigan and Wisconsin in the north, down to southern Texas. They also live from Colorado in the west to West Virginia in the east.
Even though they are not listed as endangered by the U.S. government, some states consider them at risk. For example, they are an endangered species in Wisconsin. They are also a threatened species in Michigan. Their numbers have dropped a lot since the late 1970s.
Threats to the Frogs
Scientists think several things are causing this decline. One big reason is habitat loss. This means the places where the frogs live are being destroyed. Pollution from chemicals and competition for food and space are also problems. You can still find some populations in the southern and western parts of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.
The Blanchard's cricket frog is also considered endangered in Minnesota. It might still live on Pelee Island in Ontario, Canada, but no one has seen it there since 1987.
Recent Studies
Some people thought that large bullfrogs were causing the cricket frog numbers to drop. However, a study found that bullfrog tadpoles did not take enough food from Blanchard's cricket frog tadpoles to harm them.
Another study looked at how well Blanchard's cricket frogs can fight off sickness. It found that many things can affect a frog's immune system. For example, how much salt is in the water, the size of the water body, and how much natural land is around. All these things can change the helpful germs on the frog's skin. This can make the frog's immune system weaker.
While pollution and competition play a role, the main reason why Blanchard's cricket frog populations are decreasing is still a mystery.
