Species Spotlight on Dendrobates Pumilio

AKA:  Red and Blue Poison-Arrow Frog;  Strawberry Poison-Arrow Frog.

Dendrobates pumilio is a small slim frog.  It reaches one inch in length.  This frog is primarily red with black dots and black and blue limbs.  It has adhesive pads on its toes for climbing.  It has poisonous skin glands for defense.

The frog is found in the rainforests of Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.

This frog is a diurnal creature.   It also requires high humidity.  It dwells amongst the trees as well as on the forest floor.

This poison-arrow frog feeds on insects including ants, spiders, and termites.

Few animals find this little frog to be appetizing due to its poison.  Only 2 micrograms of this poison are needed to kill a human adult.  The frog has an average of 100 micrograms of this poison.   Surprisingly, this frog still has a few predators to fear.  Dendrobates pumilio tadpoles are often eaten by fish.  Adults may be consumed by Leimadophis epinephelus (a colubrid found in South and Central America).  This snake is immune to the frog's poison and thus finds it very tasty.

Dendrobates pumilio males will wrestle rival males to win females.  Mating will occur during the rainy season. The female will lay between four and six eggs in the water.  The male will fertilize these eggs.  Shortly after the tadpoles hatch, they will climb onto their mother's back.  The mother will then transport each tadpole to its own condensation pool.   These pools are located on leaves of rainforest plants.  The mother will feed these tadpoles her unfertiized eggs untill they become frogs.

As the name Poison-Arrow Frog implies, the native people of the Dendrobates pumilio's territory use the skin gland poison for arrow and dart tips.  In 1858, the first Dendrobates pumilio was discovered by a non-native, and since then they have been kept as pets by herpetological enthusiasts.