Spea bombifrons

Adults: Plains spadefoots have a single, hard, wedge-shaped "spade" on each hind foot and a prominent hard lump between their eyes, slightly forward of an imaginary line crossing the middle of both eyes. Their backs often have a roughly hourglass-shaped marking (four light lines; often absent in smaller ones). They can reach a length of about 2 inches (6 cm).

Mature males: Males often have dark patches on their inner two to three fingers during the breeding season.

Breeding call: The call is a brief snore, much faster than the long, stuttering snore of the New Mexico spadefoot.

Larvae: The backs of tadpoles are brown or green to whitish, or mottled gray and dull olive-yellow. They are usually pale, sometimes with bluish iridescence. Their dorsal (back) fin is clear or has sparse yellowish and gray mottling. Their ventral (abdominal) fin is clear or mainly clear with sparse, yellow flecks. Their body is round, and their belly is iridescent gold. They generally reach up to 2.8 inches (7 cm) in total length, sometimes up to 3.7 inches (9.5 cm).

Eggs: The eggs are black above and white below with a diameter of around 0.06 inches (1.5-1.6 mm). The eggs are surrounded by two jelly envelopes, in elliptical masses of about 10 to 250 eggs.
 

This wide-ranging species occurs from south-central Canada to northern Mexico, west to western Montana, eastern Colorado, eastern Arizona, east to western Iowa, eastern Missouri, and central Arkansas, with disjunct populations in southern Texas and in Arkansas.
 

This species prefers shrublands, grasslands, and semi-desert areas.
 

Almost all of their feeding and breeding happens during and shortly after heavy spring and summer rains. Otherwise, these toads stay buried in the ground. They migrate between breeding pools and terrestrial habitats. When females lay eggs, they attach them to plants in shallow water, usually in temporary pools or flooded areas, and sometimes in permanent water bodies, especially those that fluctuate greatly in size. Eggs and larvae develop quickly, and toadlets leave the pools in two to 11 weeks, if their pools do not dry up sooner.