Endemic to West Ecuador, it lives in dry and low forests and was first described by Luis A. Coloma [fr] in 1995.

The skin of the dorsum is dark-coffee in colour with a cream-yellow or cream-white stripe that shows some pink coloration toward the posterior.

However, it is believed that with the high intra-specific phenotypic diversity observed within poison frogs and the role of diet in toxicity that there could be chemically defended E. machalilla populations.

[4][5] Epipedobates machalilla is endemic to West Ecuador, where it lives in dry and low forests.

[1][3] It mainly occurs in Azogues, Bolívar, El Oro, Guayas, Los Rios and Manabí and has been seen in the Choco rainforest.