Scientific name: Agalychnis callidryas
Distribution: Lowland areas of Southern Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and northern Colombia
Habitats: Primary and secondary rainforest, roadside ditches, flooded agricultural land including coffee plantations.
Similar species: Small red-eyed Leaf frog, Agalychnis saltator
Description: Red-eyed Leaf frogs are one of the most vividly coloured frogs in the world, with their bright red eyes, vibrant green body colour and blue-striped sides together with their orange fingers and toes. This species is a medium-sized leaf frog, with females reaching approximately 7cm in length.
Habits and ecology: The Red-eyed leaf frog is a nocturnal species that spends most of its time in trees, and as its name suggests it spends the daytime concealed on the underside of a leaf where it relies on its camouflage to avoid detection. Reproduction takes place during the rainy season and a wide variety of temporary and permanent shallow waters are used for breeding. The female lays her eggs on a leaf, and once they have developed into tadpoles, which normally takes about 5 days, they drop into the water below to continue their development.
Conservation: The Red-eyed Leaf frog is not as threatened as some other species of leaf frog, largely thanks to its large Central American distribution. However, rainforest destruction and pollution have caused significant declines in the populations of this frog, especially in Mexico. Recent studies have shown that this frog can survive to a degree in heavily deforested areas, although populations are smaller than in more natural areas.
A lively Red-eyed Leaf Frog filmed in the wild
Children meet a Red-eyed Leaf frog at Manchester Museum
A male Red-eyed Leaf Frog, Agalychis callidryas, photographed in Costa Rica by Matt Wilson (c)
