Description:Pseudacris streckeri can reach a maximum size of 1.88 inches. It is the largest of the chorus frogs, with a stout, toadlike body and forearms. This frog has a dark stripe through its eyes from snout to shoulder, dark spots along the side of the body, dark blotches on the dorsum (back), a white belly, and yellow or orange-yellow pigmentation on the groin. Coloration may be gray, brown, olive, or green. Most P. streckeri have a dark spot below the eye. P. streckeri can be distinguished from all other chorus frogs within its range by its lack of a continuous light line along the upper lip. During the breeding season, the vocal pouch of the male becomes dark.
Habitat: Basically terrestrial. Moist woods, sand prairies, ravines, along streams and swamps, around ponds, and cultivated areas. Sand prairies and cultivated fields in southeastern Missouri and adjacent Arkansas. Burrows into soil when inactive, using forelimbs. Eggs and larvae develop in flooded fields, ditches, sloughs, small ponds, or other temporary bodies of water.
Range: This species ranges from extreme south-central Kansas, through most of Oklahoma and east to central Arkansas and south through most of central, South, and East Texas to extreme northwestern Louisiana, USA.
Diet: Metamorphosed frogs eat small terrestrial arthropods. Larvae eat suspended matter, organic debris, algae, and plant tissue.
Reproduction: Lays clutch of up to several hundred eggs divided among many clusters in fall, winter, or spring, depending on location; breeds in late winter or early spring in Midwest, from as early as late January through mid-April in Arkansas. In Missouri, breeding begins in late February or early March, continues into early April. Breeds in March in Illinois. Aquatic larvae metamorphose into terrestrial form in about 2 months (late spring in Illinois).
Status: Populations of Strecker's chorus frogs are not believed to be under any major threats currently. This species of chorus frog is ranked as "Least Concern". However, the US Fish & Wildlife Service profile for this species does list them as "a species of concern".
Subspecies: None
Taxonomy: Whether this name refers to a species with two subspecies: Strecker's chorus frog, Pseudacris streckeri streckeri Wright & Wright, 1933 and Illinois chorus frog, Pseudacris streckeri illinoensis, or whether the Illinois chorus frog is split off as its own species is controversial. Collins recognized it as its own species which was followed by ASW6.0 and Amphibiaweb on the basis of its diagnosability from Pseudacris streckeri and its allopatry. The IUCN redlist 2013.2 has not incorporated this taxonomic split.
Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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