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Look carefully at the glass - you will most likely see one or two frogs pressed flat against it. All the lively colors will be hidden from view, as they rely on their camouflaged, green appearance when resting.

Home > Meet Our Animals > Amphibians > Frogs and Toads > Red-eyed tree frog
Red-eyed tree frog
Agalychnis callidryas
 
Size Males measure about 51 - 64 mm in snout-vent length, while females are larger, measuring from 64mm - 76 mm.
Weight Both sexes weigh from 6 to 15 g.
Conservation Status
Diet These frogs feed almost exclusively at night. They are ambush feeders, hiding amongst the leaves of trees. Their coloration allows them to stay hidden where they wait for insects and small animals to come to them. The frogs eat a variety of insects most typically crickets, moths, flies and grasshoppers; however, they will eat anything they can fit into their mouths and have been known to eat other small frogs. At the Zoo, the frogs are offered a variety of invertebrates including, fruit flies, crickets and small worms.
Geographic Range Found mainly in the tropical low lands and humid forest of the Caribbean side of Central America. Red-eyed tree frogs occur from the states of Veracrúz, Chiapas and the Yucatán Peninsula in México to extreme northwest Colombia. It is absent from El Salvador and other drier parts of the Pacific side of Central America.
Where to find me in the Zoo Reptile and Amphibian House
Note: Description below should include Longevity, Behavior, and Reproduction information
Red-eyed tree frogs are small to medium sized tree frogs with a smooth skin and a round head with a truncated snout. The dorsal coloration can be light green or dark green, some individuals are speckeled with light cream spots, the under part is mostly white. The flash colors are shown on the lateral coloration which is usually a blue or deep purple background with vertical yellow, cream or white stripes. The hand and feet of these frogs are either orange or deep red in color. The color of different populations vary greatly from locality to locality, but all red-eyed tree frogs have big bulging red eyes with a vertically narrow pupil, resembling the eyes of domestic cats and a reticulated membrane that protects the eye, the membrane is usually clear with a mesh of light colored reticulations.
 

Longevity

Red-eyed tree frogs are short lived in the wild, falling pray to snakes and other predators. In captivity, animals that are well cared for can live for 5 to 8 years.
 

Behavior

These are truly arboreal frogs that do not descend to the ground under normal circumstances. Their hands and feet are a tell-tale sign of their ability to grasp the smallest of twigs, and their legs are designed for walking, and not for jumping or swimming. They spent most of their life throughout the forest, and gather to breed in temporary pools, usually in areas where there is dense canopy cover. 
 
 

Reproduction

The males call sporadically from floating or emerging vegetation directly above water, usually during rain events. Females select a mate and travel some distance to a secure place, usually under a Spathodea leaf, to lay the eggs.  A mass of anywhere from 20 to 60 eggs are laid on the underside of a big leaf and left there to hatch.  Once the tadpoles emerge, they will drop into the water. Under normal conditions, the eggs hatch in about two weeks, depending on the temperature.

Frog eggs fall pray to snakes that can eat the whole clutch and wasps that pluck individual embryos away from the egg. When a clutch is being attacked, the vibrations caused by the movements of predators triggers an alarm response from the developing embryos. Interestingly, the embryos inside the eggs can tell the difference between a wasp that plucks a few eggs and a snake that will eat the whole clutch.  When the snake attacks, the whole clutch hurries to wriggle free and hatch, while if a wasp attacks, only the eggs closest to the vibration tend to hatch, allowing the rest of the eggs to develop normally.
 
 
There are 6 red-eyed tree frogs of unknown sex on exhibit. They arrived at the Zoo on April 28, 2011 from the Fresno Caffee Zoo.

Enrichment


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Amphibian Conservation


Conservation at a Glance

  • Amphibians are an important component of the global ecosystem, as indicators of environmental health and contributors to human health.
  • Amphibians provide vital biomedicines and are considered an indicator species for endocrine disruptors and unsafe environmental conditions
  • They are also vital components of their ecosystems - in areas of the world where amphibians have declined, there has been an increase in invertebrate pests that damage crops and carry human diseases. 
  • Today, one third to one half of all amphibian species worldwide are threatened with extinction. 
  • The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) has joined with two branches of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (IUCN/SSC) - the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) and the Amphibian Specialist Group (ASG) - to form the Amphibian Ark (AArk).
  • As an integral part of the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan, AArk was formulated to ensure that select species which would otherwise go extinct will be maintained in captivity until they can be secured in the wild. 
  • AArk keeps constant attention on the obligation to couple ex situ (in a captive setting) conservation measures with necessary efforts to protect or restore species in their natural habitats.
  • AArk’s goal is to save as many species as possible by providing global coordination, technical guidance, training, necessary linkages to other IUCN groups, communications, and guiding publicity and capital campaigns.
  • AArk’s goal is 100% participation of WAZA zoos and aquariums and the regional associations.
 
To learn more about the conservation efforts at the Philadelphia Zoo, click here.

Zoo Research


Fun Facts

  • The bright colors on the sides, hands and eyes of the red-eyed tree frogs are thought to serve as a startle mechanism against predators.
  • The call of the red-eyed tree frog is very similar to the sound of a baby rattle.
  • Red-eyed tree frogs rely on their camouflaged, green appearance when resting.

Conservation

Introductions

Animal Lingo

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Sources: 1) Duellman, W.E. 2001. The Hylids Frogs of Middle America. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. Ithaca, New York; 2) Duellman, W.E. & Trueb, L. 1986. Biology of Amphibians. McGraw-Hill, New York; 3) Ibanez, R., Rand, A.S. and Jaramillo, C.A. 1999. Los amphibious del Monument Natural Barro Colorado, Parque Nacional Soberanía y áreas adyacentes; 4) Mizrachi, E. and Pujol, S.A. Santa Fe de Bogotá. Ruiz-Carranza, P.M., Ardila-Robayo, M.C. and Lynch, J.D. 1996. Lista actualizada de la fauna de Amphibia de Colombia. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; 5) Savage, J.M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica. University of Chicago Press, Chicago; 6) Warkentin, K. M. (1995). Adaptive plasticity in hatching age: A response to predation risk trade-offs. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. How do embryos assess risk? Vibrational cues in predator-induced hatching of red-eyed treefrogs. Animal Behavior, 70. Et al.