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Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas

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Crawfish Frog

Lithobates areolatus (Baird and Girard, 1852)

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Overview

The Crawfish Frog is relatively large and robust, and only the bullfrog reaches a greater maximum size. The Crawfish Frog is characterized by moist skin, a round snout, a raised fold of skin on each side of the back running from behind the eye down to the thigh, and a network (reticulate) pattern of light and dark flecks and lines between spots on the back and sides. The head, body, and front limbs of this frog are gray or light brown and covered with numerous blue-brown or dark brown light-edged spots. The network pattern appears between and around these spots. The rear limbs have dark brown crossbands. The belly is whitish. Males have an enlarged inner finger on each hand, and females are larger than males.
Adults normally 57-75 mm (2¼-3 inches) in snout-vent length. The largest Kansas specimen is a female (FHSM 10447) from Bourbon County with a snout-vent length of 122 mm (4¾ inches) collected by Derek Welch and Curtis J. Schmidt on 31 March 2005. This is the maximum reported length throughout their range (Powell et al. 2016).


Distribution

This taxon is known from the Neosho, Marais des Cygnes, and northern Verdigris drainages, where it inhabits areas with perched water tables in upland grasslands with abundant crayfish. The northernmost records from Baker Wetlands/Wakarusa Bottoms (floodplain of the Wakarusa River: Kansas River drainage) in Douglas County may be extirpated (last observed in 1978).


Reproduction

Despite their relatively large size, these frogs are seldom seen. The Crawfish Frog inhabits floodplains, moist lowland meadows, and pastures. It prefers to hide in crayfish burrows but undoubtedly also uses the burrows of small mammals. In addition, it has been taken beneath logs, in holes along roadside ditches, and in sewers. This frog probably uses burrows as retreats during winter.
Hartman (1906) found a single specimen in a crayfish burrow on a river floodplain in Douglas County. Gloyd (1928) reported a specimen collected in a burrow in a pasture on 12 August in Franklin County.
Smith (1934) observed that this frog does not wander far from crayfish burrows, except during the breeding season, and that those burrows inhabited by this species have a flattened mud platform near the entrance and are 3 to 5 feet deep. Smith (1956) pointed out that this is the most secretive frog in Kansas and stated that its young probably retreat to underground burrows immediately after metamorphosis.
Busby (1990) surveyed six counties in eastern Kansas and found this frog primarily in native hay meadows and pastures as well as prairie bottomland. Taggart (1992) observed adults of this species active at night as early as 28 March at an air temperature of 51 °F in low, moist areas of cultivated fields in Allen County; he also plowed up sub-adults by day in the same fields in July.
The Crawfish Frog breeds in March, April, and possibly early May. Following rains sufficient enough to flood its refugia in crayfish burrows and concomitant temperatures above 50°F, this species emerges, migrates to small ponds and ditches, and begins to call. Their call is a low, snoring sound that can be heard over a mile on still nights. Males mount females, clasping them behind their forelimbs, and the eggs are laid and fertilized in water. Each female may deposit up to 7,000 eggs in shallow water in masses 127.0-152.4 mm (5-6 inches) in diameter around plants and stems. The eggs hatch and tadpoles metamorphose during the summer.
Collins and Dawson (1975) found a chorus of 15-20 male Crawfish Frogs in a roadside slough on 5 May in Cherokee County. The slough had a maximum depth of 60 cm. The frogs were calling amidst a chorus of Southern Leopard Frogs. Caldwell and Glass (1976) found examples of the Crawfish Frog calling in a small farm pond on 30 April and 1 May in Woodson County. The frogs were calling at air temperatures of 50-60°F following a steady, heavy rain. Collins (1982) reported an extensive chorus of these frogs calling from roadside ditches and flooded fields in Miami County on 2 April. Collins (1982) heard choruses of this frog from 19 March to 30 April in Cherokee County. Busby (1990) recorded this frog calling in six eastern counties from 9 March to 14 April. Taggart (1992) heard this frog chorusing in Allen County on 2 April at an air temperature of 58°F.


Remarks

The Crawfish Frog was first reported in Kansas by Hartman (1906), based on a single specimen discovered in the Wakarusa bottoms near Lawrence, Douglas County. The earliest existing specimen (KU 9275) was collected at Lawrence, Douglas County, in August 1910 by Francis A. Hartman.
Platt et al. (1974) recommended that breeding and habitat sites of this species be designated sanctuaries. Collins (1993) stated that this species may be disappearing rapidly from previously suitable habitat in Kansas due to its susceptibility to fluctuations of the water table caused by the construction of dams, dikes, and levees.
Busby (1997) suggested that Crawfish Frogs were locally common in Kansas. And that they may be the dominant Ranid in high-quality habitat (remnant tallgrass prairie). However, he cautioned that little of this habitat exists compared to pre-settlement times.
Most Crawfish Frog observations are made in conjunction with breeding activity, by either hearing choruses or intercepting adults moving to a breeding site. Individuals of both sexes congregate in large water-filled depressions and small farm ponds, often with some emergent vegetation, such as cattails. Additionally, individuals were regularly observed attempting to cross roadways on rainy nights, but only when chorusing was taking place nearby. In fact, the detection of a frog on the road often reveals the existence of an adjacent chorus that we might otherwise have missed. Juvenile/metamorphs are seldom reported from roadways.
The Crawfish Frog is an abundant yet seldom seen component of the Kansas herpetofauna. Reports prior to Busby (1997) were generally isolated and infrequent (e.g., Hartman (1906), Taggart (1992)). The Crawfish Frog's early, relatively brief breeding season and its secretive habit of remaining in burrows the rest of the year create the perception of rarity.
Despite our increased understanding of the distribution and natural history of this species in Kansas, a cautionary note is needed. The populations of Crawfish Frogs have been extirpated from a portion of their range along the Wakarusa River near Lawrence by 1979 (von Achen, 1987). There is no apparent explanation for the disappearance, and this example further demonstrates that even the best-studied and managed systems are not exempt from such catastrophes. A repatriation attempt (J. Collins, pers. comm.) into the Baker Wetlands of Crawfish Frogs from Anderson County has not been shown to be successful.
The Crawfish Frog was listed as a Kansas Threatened species in 1978 and downlisted to SINC in 1993.


References

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Engbrecht, Nate, Chair, Jeff Briggler, Owen Edwards, Paul Frese, Mark Howery, Kassandra Karssen-Konzen, Mike Lannoo, Mike Lodato, John MacGregor, Dexter Mardis, Justin Michels, Jason Mirtl, John Palis, Russell Pfau, Daren Riedle, Joe Robb, Rochelle Stiles, Curtis Tackett, and Melissa Youngquist. 2024. Best management practices for Crawfish Frogs (Lithobates areolatus): A guide for land managers. Midwest Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Bloomington, Indiana. 9 pp.

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Last Updated: 06/04/2026 7:26:00 AM CT — Travis Taggart

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Tuesday 09 June 2026 13:07 CT