Amazon Milk Frog Habitat and Distribution

Amazon milk frog Baumhöhlen-Krötenlaubfrosch / Amazon Golden-eyed Tree Frog / Amazon Milk Frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix )

The Amazon milk frog occurs in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela and possibly Guyana. This frog inhabits the canopy of tropical rainforests at elevations from sea level to about 1500 feet (450 m). It spends its entire life in the vegetation and seldom, if ever, descends to the ground.

The adult Amazon milk frog is either dark brown with light grey or white banding, or light grey with dark brown banding. Its skin has a very granular or bumpy texture. The legs, arms and digits have darker brown bars with cream borders. There is a large green triangle between the eyes. Its eye is golden in color with a black Maltese cross centered on the pupil. A juvenile Amazon milk frog is banded in black and white, but as it matures its contrasting colors change to that of the adult. It has a vocal sac located on each side of the head. This species is rather large for a tree frog and adults usually range in size from 2.5 to 4 inches
(6.3 -10 cm). Males are smaller than females.

Amazon milk frog

Diet/Feeding

Adults will consume almost any type of small arthropod (crickets, worms, caterpillars, flies and
locusts) that they can overpower and swallow.

Conservation Status

The Amazon milk frog is classified as “least concern” on the IUCN Red List. Additional Information. The common name “milk frog” refers to the poisonous, white, milky secretion that this frog may secrete through its skin when threatened. This species is nocturnal and is noted for its loud vocalizations. Males call only from water-filled tree cavities at heights between about 6 and 100 feet (2 - 32 m) above the ground. It calls to attract a female.

Amazon milk frog Baumhöhlen-Krötenlaubfrosch / Amazon Golden-eyed Tree Frog / Amazon Milk Frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix )

Breeding occurs mainly during the rainy season, November to May. The female lays about 2,500 eggs in the water in the tree hole. The tadpoles hatch after one day. After three more weeks they metamorphose into tiny frogs.

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