Red-eyed tree frog
Agalychnis callidryas
— Where the name comes from
Agalychnis recalls the Greek for something shining; callidryas is made of kállos, beauty, and dryás, wood nymph: “the beautiful nymph of the trees”. The scientific name is a tribute to its elegance. It is perhaps the most photographed frog in the world, an icon of the rainforest.
— Facts
- Group
- Amphibians · Amphibia
- Order
- Frogs and toads
- Habitat
- Rainforest, on vegetation beside pools
- Range
- Central America, from southern Mexico to Panama
- Size
- 5–7.5 cm for the female, less for the male
- Diet
- Insectivore — crickets, moths, flies
- Lifespan
- 5 years
— Characteristics
- 01
The staring red eyes are thought to startle a predator for an instant, buying time to escape.
- 02
Blue flanks and orange feet flash as it leaps, confusing a pursuer.
- 03
The eggs are laid on leaves above water; the tadpoles drop in on hatching.
— What sets it apart
Red-eyed tree frog embryos can choose when to be born. If a snake or a wasp attacks the leaf where the eggs are laid, the embryos still inside the egg feel the vibrations of the assault and hatch within seconds, many days early, dropping into the water below to escape. They can tell the vibrations of a predator from the harmless ones of rain or wind: they are born early only when it is really necessary.
