Its general colour is some shade of brown and it has a dark stripe running down either side extending about halfway along the body.

[3] Colostethus stepheni occurs in French Guiana and adjacent Suriname[2] as well as in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil where it is widespread in the Adolfo Ducke Forest Reserve near the confluence of the Rio Negro and Solimões River.

[3] Colostethus stepheni is a diurnal, terrestrial species spending its life in forest litter where it forages on invertebrates such as termites, beetles and flies.

The female lays three to six eggs with gelatinous capsules inside the hollow leaf and remains at the nest for about an hour.

He is territorial and drives off male intruders and seldom goes further than 20 centimetres (7.9 in) from the nest, continuing to remain nearby as the tadpoles develop.