Tiny, nocturnal, greenish… and a coffee lover. A new species of frog discovered in Costa Rica finds its ideal habitat in coffee trees, but is also threatened by agrochemicals used in plantations.
“This is a new species of tree frog (…), endemic to Costa Rica,” Wagner Chaves-Acuña, one of the leaders of the study carried out by the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina and the University of Costa Rica, told AFP.
Measuring less than four centimeters, these dark green-spotted amphibians – nicknamed “spring frogs” – were observed by AFP journalists in San Lorenzo de Tarrazú, a mountain village in the province of San José.
Also nicknamed “coffee frog” in reference to its preferred habitat, this species has another particularity: the males have a translucent throat which inflates when they emit their short, high-pitched cry. “At night, when they are most active, you can hear them singing while they are perched on the coffee trees,” describes Mr. Chaves-Acuna.
These frogs generally seek shade, humidity and food within crops, but are not interested in coffee cherries, instead feeding on the small insects present in these crops. Specimens have also been found in areas far from coffee plantations.
Mr. Chaves-Acuña warns, however, that this idyllic coffee ecosystem can also represent a risk for these small amphibians due to the use of pesticides intended to protect the plantations, even if no studies confirm this to date.
“These poisons spread through the air… they seep into the ground and thus enter the aquatic environments where the tadpoles develop,” he laments.
His colleague Jonathan Navarro, of the International Institute for Wildlife Conservation and Management at the National University of Costa Rica, mentions other threats, notably “when we encroach on protected areas and cut down the grasses and bushes that (the frog) uses as a refuge and possibly to lay its eggs.”
