It is endemic to Ecuador where it is only known from its type locality, at the eastern base of the Reventador volcano, in the Napo Province.

The skin of the dorsum is coffee-colored with orange marks where the front and hind legs meet the body.

After the eggs hatch, the adults carry the tadpoles on their backs to pools of water in bromeliad plants for further development.

Andinobates abditus no longer survives in its type locality, although it is possible that it occurs elsewhere (including the nearby Cayambe Coca Ecological Reserve, but its presence there has not been confirmed).

The disappearance from the type locality was due to habitat loss, possibly together Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infection.