Poison Dart Frogs

Characteristics

Smooth skinned, slender frog. Horizontal pupils in black eyes. Fingers and toes are unwebbed. Mainly terrestrial, but still they have small discs on fingers and toes to climb through vegetation. D. auratus: 1.5 inches in length. Usually velvety green with black spots or bands, but specimens with background colors of blue, turquoise, gold-green or black are seen. Ours were confiscated by USDA. Although native to South America, ours were introduced into Hawaii at some point and are brown and black. D. tinctorius: Two inches long. Basic color is black with a pattern of golden stripes and the legs and feet are blue with black spots. Also may be white and black, white and blue, or blue and black. The name is probably because Spaniards reportedly thought natives in South America used the skin of the frog to dye the parrot feathers used in their rituals. P. vittatus: 1 inch long. Black with orange stripes. Lower parts are grayish blue speckled with black. D. azureus: 1.1-1.8 inches. Its legs are commonly an azure-blue, the belly darker blue, and the back sky-blue. D. galactonotus: 4 cm long. Black base color with yellow, orange, or red back. There are populations that are entirely white-mint colored and a koi blue variant with a grey-blue back.

Species Specifics

Physical Characteristics

These frogs are known to produce toxic chemicals in their skin, making them poisonous to most would-be predators. These frogs have glandular adhesive pads on their toes and fingertips, which help them to adhere to plant surfaces. This allows these frogs to climb and cling.

Ecology

Habitat

Tropical forests of Central and South America

Distribution

Diet

As insectivores they mainly prey on ants and termites, from which the frog derives the chemicals necessary to synthesize its poisonous skin secretion. They also consume beetles, flies, mites, spiders, maggots, and caterpillars. In captivity the diet primarily consists of crickets and fruit flies, which do not contain the natural toxins that the frogs absorb and synthesize for poisonous skin secretions. This means they lose poisonous properties due to the lack of toxic compounds.

Ecological Web

Frogs play an important role in the rainforest ecosystem as a predator of small arthropods. Without this contribution there would be drastic changes in the food web.

Activity and Behavior

Activity Pattern

These frogs evolved to be able to roam freely in daytime when they could take advantage of the vast food source of day-active ants.

Behavior

Males can be very territorial and aggressive in defense of a calling/breeding territory.

Social Behavior

These frogs remain close to some type of water source such as a stream. They are very active during the daytime (diurnal) and move constantly with short leaps. This species is also bold, aggressive, and very territorial, especially the males, which are known to fight over territories. However, both sexes are known to defend their territories from frogs of the same species as well as those of other species. Aggressive behavior in D. tinctorius usually consists of calling, chases, and wrestling. Wrestling usually occurs between those of the same sex, but can occur between males and females.

Reproductive Behavior

Both sexes engage in posturing, chasing and bouts of wrestling on the forest floor. Breeding occurs throughout the year. Most poison dart frogs do not indulge in amplexus. Males may deposit sperm followed by the females laying the eggs or vice versa. Females usually lay small clutches of eggs (2-10) on a leaf or a carefully cleared patch of ground. Tadpoles upon hatching wriggle carefully onto the back of an attending parent, where they are attached by a sticky mucus and carried to a small pool. Metamorphosis takes 8 to 12 weeks. Several clutches are laid during the year.

Offspring

This varies between species, but averages 2-20 eggs.

Conservation

Status

Least Concern

Historical

Current Threats

Our Role

Oakland Zoo believes that each one of us has the power to become stewards of the natural world, decrease our global footprint and inspire others to do the same. Learn about the conservation initiatives we're pursuing at the Zoo, and find out how you can help. https://www.oaklandzoo.org/conservation