Geographic Range
Agalychnis callidryas
is found in the neotropical regions of southern Mexico, across Central America, as
well as the northern regions of South America.
- Biogeographic Regions
- neotropical
Habitat
Primarily found in humid environments with abundant access to water (i.e. rainforests),
red-eyed tree frogs are found close to ponds and other small bodies of fresh water.
The presence of a permanent body of water is essential for the frog’s reproductive
needs. In response to high heat or dry seasons, red-eyed tree frogs find shelter under
broad leaves closer to the forest floor. Since they have difficulty preventing dehydration
in heated environments –like all members of the genus
Agalychnis
– they are nocturnal.
- Habitat Regions
- tropical
- Terrestrial Biomes
- rainforest
Physical Description
Agalychnis callidryas is relatively small (4 to 7 centimeters). Females tend to be larger than males. It displays distinctive bulging red eyes along with webbed orange feet. Additionally, its legs have symmetrical streaks of yellow and blue. The rest of its body is leaf green in color. Red-eyed tree frogs have smooth skin with almost no bumps. Young froglets of this species are able to change the color of their skin based on the time of day.
Tadpoles of
A. callidryas
are relatively large (4-5 centimeters). Their tail is long and narrow. The tadpole's
skin is pale gray dorsally and blueish-gray on its sides.
- Other Physical Features
- ectothermic
- bilateral symmetry
- Sexual Dimorphism
- female larger
Development
Breeding for
A. callidryas
is synchronized with the rainy reason of the year. After eggs have been terrestrially
laid at the edges of a pond or beneath a leaf, they get externally fertilized by the
males. Roughly four to six days following this, they are capable of hatching. As tadpoles,
they can only survive for up to 20 hours on land so they need to make their way to
the water. In the water, they survive as mid-water suspension feeders for several
weeks (it ranges vastly based on environmental conditions). Following this period,
they undergo a metamorphosis phase in order to form into froglets, which eventually
mature into adult frogs.
- Development - Life Cycle
- metamorphosis
- indeterminate growth
Reproduction
Red-eyed tree frogs mate seasonally (rain season is optimal). These frogs are polygynandrous
in nature. Males tend to fight one another to have a chance at mating with a female.
The croaking noise produced by the male is what helps get the attention of the female
frog. Once mating ensues, the pair of frogs engage in amplexus, which is the process
in which the male latches on to the female’s back. This process occurs on the underside
of a leaf so that the eggs can become fertilized as they exit the female and adhere
to the leaf (which is usually above a pond or small body of water).
- Mating System
- polygynandrous (promiscuous)
A. callidryas
is known to breed only during the rainy season due to its eggs' required access to
wet conditions. Its gestation period is around 45 days. The young mature in two years,
but do not start mating for another two years. Male and female frogs engage in amplexus
during mating.
- Key Reproductive Features
- iteroparous
- seasonal breeding
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
- fertilization
- oviparous
- delayed fertilization
Agalychnis callidryas
does not invest in any type of post-fertilization care. Following fertilization,
the eggs are laid on the underside of a leaf or adjacent to a pond. The male and female
frogs are not known to return to the site of the eggs.
- Parental Investment
- no parental involvement
Lifespan/Longevity
While the average age in captivity for these frogs is 4.1 years, there have been reports
suggesting the frog's lifespan to be over 8 years. In the wild, the average age of
red-eyed tree frogs is 5 years. The main factors that cause mortality in these frogs
are predation and amphibian-related diseases (e.g. Ranavirus, chytridiomycosis).
Behavior
While these frogs have been seen to co-exist in groups, information has not been reported
regarding the social hierarchy and its associated behavioral cues. Red-eye tree frogs
are widely distributed throughout Central and South America, but have not be shown
to migrate extensively. It is primarily active at night (nocturnal).
- Key Behaviors
- arboreal
- saltatorial
- motile
- sedentary
- social
Communication and Perception
Red-eyed tree frogs begin perceiving information from their environment even before
they hatch. They use cues such as vibrations from the outside of their egg environment
to determine whether or not they should delay their hatching time (mostly based upon
predation). As a post-metamorphosis frog,
A. callidryas
can communicate in a number of ways. For instance, it can shock its predators momentarily
by flashing them its bright red eyes during the night time (a visual cue). While communicating
with other members of its species, these frogs tend to shake tree branches in order
to send vibrations. In order to mate, the male
A. callidryas
croaks very distinctively in order to attract a suitable female.
- Other Communication Modes
- choruses
- vibrations
- Perception Channels
- visual
- tactile
- acoustic
- vibrations
Food Habits
Red-eyed tree frogs are considered to be nocturnal carnivores. Their primary diet
consists of
insects
, which they tend to capture during the night time. They have been known to eat one
another during their tadpole stage of life. Insects that the
A. callidryas
likes to eat include flies (
Diptera
), grasshoppers (
Caelifera
), and mosquitoes (
Culicidae
).
- Primary Diet
-
carnivore
- insectivore
- eats non-insect arthropods
Predation
Depending on the stage of life that an A. callidryas is in, the predators it faces will vary. As an embryo, the frog faces predation from several types of polybid wasps and snakes . As a result of this, the time in which these embryos hatch can actually vary according to the level of predation it faces (there is an inverse correlation between hatching time and level of predation). As a tadpole, A. callidryas can be predated on by shrimp and large fish in their environments. As a froglet and adult frog, A. callidryas can be predated on by aquatic spiders , snakes , birds , and bats .
The skin of these red-eyed tree frogs contains several different poisonous, biologically
active peptides that serve to repel predators.
- Anti-predator Adaptations
- aposematic
- cryptic
Ecosystem Roles
Populations of small organisms such as
insects
and small frogs are kept from becoming over-populated by
A. callidryas
. No information was reported regarding any symbiotic relationships associated with
this species.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Red-eyed tree frogs provide two main benefits for humans and the environment. First,
they are very popular as household pets and thus provide monetary benefits for those
who are involved in pet trade. Additionally, their increased susceptibility to environmental
toxins, like other species of the class
Amphibia
, makes them great candidates to study early effects of pollution and other environmental
changes.
- Positive Impacts
- pet trade
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
There are no known adverse effects of red-eyed tree frogs on humans.
Conservation Status
While there is currently no status marking red-eyed tree frogs as endangered, their
populations have been decreasing at an alarmingly fast rate (hence the “Appendix II”
ranking under CITES). The main reason for this rapid decrease is high rates of deforestation.
Conservation efforts are being made in certain parks throughout their range to maintain
their non-endangered status.
Other Comments
Red-eyed tree frogs change the color of their skin (from leaf-green to red-brown)
based on their mood.
Additional Links
Contributors
Amit Manjunath (author), The College of New Jersey, Matthew Wund (editor), The College of New Jersey.
- Neotropical
-
living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- tropical
-
the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.
- rainforest
-
rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.
- metamorphosis
-
A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.
- indeterminate growth
-
Animals with indeterminate growth continue to grow throughout their lives.
- polygynandrous
-
the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.
- iteroparous
-
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
- seasonal breeding
-
breeding is confined to a particular season
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- fertilization
-
union of egg and spermatozoan
- external fertilization
-
fertilization takes place outside the female's body
- oviparous
-
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
- delayed fertilization
-
a substantial delay (longer than the minimum time required for sperm to travel to the egg) takes place between copulation and fertilization, used to describe female sperm storage.
- arboreal
-
Referring to an animal that lives in trees; tree-climbing.
- saltatorial
-
specialized for leaping or bounding locomotion; jumps or hops.
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- sedentary
-
remains in the same area
- social
-
associates with others of its species; forms social groups.
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- choruses
-
to jointly display, usually with sounds, at the same time as two or more other individuals of the same or different species
- vibrations
-
movements of a hard surface that are produced by animals as signals to others
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- vibrations
-
movements of a hard surface that are produced by animals as signals to others
- aposematic
-
having coloration that serves a protective function for the animal, usually used to refer to animals with colors that warn predators of their toxicity. For example: animals with bright red or yellow coloration are often toxic or distasteful.
- cryptic
-
having markings, coloration, shapes, or other features that cause an animal to be camouflaged in its natural environment; being difficult to see or otherwise detect.
- pet trade
-
the business of buying and selling animals for people to keep in their homes as pets.
- carnivore
-
an animal that mainly eats meat
- insectivore
-
An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.
- ectothermic
-
animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
References
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