Red Eye Tree Frog

The best defense of an unarmed creature is to intimidate with their eyes. This is precisely what Agalychnis callidryas does with its fearful, bulging, big red eyes, thus nicknamed Red-Eyed tree frog. These teacup-sized amphibians, though brightly coloured, are not poisonous and dwell in the tropical rainforests of Central America and northern South America. They have become the symbol for the movement to protect the rainforests due to their popularity.

Dark brown in color when young, they become green on maturation, with yellow and blue stripes on their sides and orange toes. When startled, they instantly expose their brightly colored parts, confusing the predator and making them pause, which gives the opportunity to the Red-Eyed tree frog to run away.

The tree frogs grow to maximum length of three inches, and mostly live on trees near water pools, making great jumps, for which they are sometimes called ‘monkey frogs.’

At the time of mating in the rainy season, the female who is slightly larger than the male, carries the male on its back for several hours, then chooses a leaf above the water to lay the eggs, which later develop into tadpoles and fall in the water below to metamorphose into frogs in several months. They mature into adults in about 2 years and live up to 10 years in captivity.