Adult: Species description based on Savage (2002). A small glassfrog with quite prominent nostrils (males to 27 mm, females to 29 mm). Dorsal: The dorsal surface is bright, lime green and covered in rather large diffuse yellow spots. Ventral: The ventral surface is transparent. The liver and digestive tract appear white. Eye: The iris is golden. The eyes are protruding.
Breeding season: Breeding occurs during the rainy season (Hayes 1991). Males call from the underside of leaves (Hayes 1991). Egg: Eggs (50-75 per clutch, Hayes 1991) are laid on the undersurfaces of leave (Hayes 1991). Eggs are depredated by wasps (McDiarmid 1978). Tadpole: The tadpole is small and fairly flattened, with a long, muscular tail (Savage 2002). The dorsal surface is brownish and the ventral surface appears pinkish (the blood inside the body is visible, Savage 2002). The tail fins are clear, but the tail muscle has some dark pigmentation close to where it meets the body (Savage 2002).
Habitat: Lowland, premontane and lower montane forest to 1800 m. Call: A long, musical trill (Starrett and Savage 1973). Behavior and communication: Males are territorial, and will wrestle intruding males (Hayes 1991). Males also attend eggs that are laid in their territory (i.e, on the leaves that they call from, Hayes 1991). They periodically climb on top of clutches to rehydrate them (Hayes 1991). However, males only guard clutches at night, which leaves them vulnerable to attacks by predatory wasps during the day (Hayes 1991, McDiarmid 1978). Type locality: American Cinchona Plantation, elev. 5,600 ft., Caribbean drainage of Volcán Poas, Costa Rica
Diagnostic description: The back strip lacks a vertebral straight on both sides bordeda yellow stripes. The dorsal background color in living specimens, green with yellow spots (the preserved specimens are nearly uniform yellowish or whitish, but sometimes have purple or brown spots). Usually without enlarged parotid glands, but if present. Head lacking ridges. No dorsal fold in the head or fleshy fold on the roof of the mouth. The eardrum is defined. The head is truncated if it is seen dorsally, with an indentation between the nostrils. The rostral edge is well defined with high intercanthal platform. The eyes are bulging, protruding beyond the level of the margin of the lips. The pericardium is colorless. The belly is transparent in living specimens, which will allow the internal organs. The bones are white in live specimens.
A conspicuous lack tarsal tubercle, and the leg lacks tarsal fold. They have legs with five toes; no two elongated inner tubers, such as shovels, with a free margin. Without a pair of fleshy protrusions on the dorsal terminal finger region. They have a small digital groove, which separates the upper surface of the finger and bearing, at least in the two outer fingers and toes of the foot. Ventral disk lacks. The fingers are usually membranes, cartilage interlayer present between the last phalanges of the fingers. The talus and calcaneus are fused, the terminals are straight or T or Y. foma lack vomerine teeth. The membrane between the fingers of the hand ll-lll is not as extensive as between fingers III-IV, but restricted to the base of the toes. The nostrils are clearly protruding in fleshy projections.
Habitat: They live in damp places belonging to the pre-montane zone and tropical wet forests.
Food: They feed on small insects like flies and crickets.
Behavior:They are nocturnal and arboreal.
Distribution in Costa Rica: In wetlands, low and medium, both sides, between 6 and 1,580 m. Lift (Savage 2002).
Distribution outside Costa Rica: Panama and northern Colombia.