Cricket frogs of the genus Acris
are miniature, semi-aquatic hylids and despite the fact that they are
widespread and abundant at some locations their life histories are poorly
known. McCallum and colleagues used museum specimens and histology to determined
growth and seasonal size classes of the Northern Cricket Frog, Acris crepitans, from Georgia and
Florida) and Blanchard’s Cricket Frog, Acris
blanchardi, from Arkansas and Missouri. They found male and female
Blanchard’s Cricket Frogs metamorphose in the summer, and quickly reaches adult
size, females grow faster than males and some males are reproductively viable
by late summer. Most eggs develop in
spring and early summer with egg-laying in late May and June. The author’s size-class and histology data
suggests that few Acris survive more than one year, making them annual frogs.
Because these little anurans dedicate so much of their energy resources to
reproduction, environmental stress may make susceptible to pathogens such as chytrids,
which attack newly metamorphosed frogs. Thus, local extinctions may be
particularly common and account for the die-offs seen in the past half century.
Citation
McCallum, M. L., C. Brooks, R. Mason, and S. E. Trauth. 2011. Growth,
reproduction, and life span in Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris
blanchardi) with notes on the growth of the Northern Cricket Frog (Acris
crepitans). Herpetology Notes. 4:25-35.
