The frog is named for the biologist who first described it, Frank Nelson Blanchard, and for its distinctive cricket-like call. Male and female Blanchard's cricket frogs look alike, but females are usually larger.
Males have a dark vocal sac on their throats that they inflate to help make their mating call.
Back color is variable, but is usually brown, gray, olive, or tan, sometimes with a green or reddish stripe running down the middle. Their moist skin has raised reddish spots, or warts. There is a dark triangle or V-shaped spot between their eyes, often rust or lime green in color. Bellies are white and each thigh has dark, ragged crossbars that create a somewhat netlike pattern. Distribution Historically, Blanchard's cricket frogs were found from Southwestern Ontario, Michigan, and Ohio west to Nebraska and south to include most of Texas.