Anura Rana areolata -- Crawfish 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: Large head; mottled upper jaws; distinctively humped lower back when at rest; dark spots on back crowded together and encircled by light borders.
Similar Species: Northern leopard frog, pickerel frog, plains leopard frog, southern leopard frog.
Subspecies: Northern crawfish frog, R. a. circulosa.
Description: Large (6.6-11 cm SVL) spotted frog with dorsolateral fold along each side of body. Entire belly unspotted white. Snout cone-shaped. Male has paired vocal pouches, at corners of jaw, and enlarged thumbs used for holding onto female during amplexus.
Habitat: Prairies, woodlands, and brushy fields in hardpan clay soils in low, wet areas. Common breeding sites include flooded fields, fish-free farm ponds, and small lakes in pastures or on golf courses.
Natural History: Lives underground most of year in mammal burrows, storm drains, and abandoned crayfish burrows. Known to eat crayfish and small amphibians and reptiles, mostly at burrow entrances. Adults breed in pools during March-April, sometimes in large numbers. Breeding call is a loud, deep snore. Female lays 3,000-7,000 eggs. Tadpoles transform in midsummer.
Status: Formerly widespread in southern half of state. Uncommon and declining in some areas where breeding habitats have been drained or stocked with predatory fishes.