Anura Pseudacris streckeri -- Strecker's Chorus Frog
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Purple shade indicates vouchered specimens. Light blue (cyan)
shade indicates photographic records. Yellow shade indicates verified
sighting. Slanted hatch indicates pre-1980 records only
NOTE: Not all specimens upon which these maps are based have been verified.
Key Characters: Stout toadlike body; no toe pads; robust forearms; dark masklike stripe from snout to shoulder; dark spot under eye; V- or Y-shaped mark between eyes.
Similar Species: Upland chorus frog, western chorus frog.
Subspecies: Illinois chorus frog, P. s. illinoensis.
Description: Small (up to 4.7 cm SVL) tan to gray frog with dark brown or black lines on back. Belly white. Skin granular rather than smooth. Throat (vocal pouch) of male dark during breeding season.
Habitat: Sand prairies and remnants such as sandy agricultural fields and waste areas. Burrows in sand and emerges after heavy, early spring rains to breed in nearby flooded fields, ditches, and other vernal ponds.
Natural History: Unusual because it digs forward with its stout front legs, rather than backward like the spadefoot and toads. Diet consists of small insects. Spends most of life underground, coming to surface during rain to breed for a few weeks during February&endash;April. Breeding call is a series of clear high-pitched whistles. Eggs are laid in small, jelly-covered clusters attached to twigs and branches underwater. Embryos hatch in a few days and tadpoles transform in about two months.
Status: Threatened in Illinois. Threats include drainage and cultivation of breeding ponds and adult habitat. Locally abundant in undisturbed sand prairies in Cass and Morgan counties.