Blue Poison Arrow Frog

Therefore, it comes from North America and South America.

How did they get their name?Well, their skin contains poison and the Colombian Indians take the poision to smear on to their weapons such as blow-pipe darts and arrows to help kill animals while they are hunting.

It is true to say that only a few species are used in this way, but the name seems to have stuck for all the family!

There are a number of poison arrow frogs such as the blue one already mentioned, the Dendrobates pumilio which is the strawberry poison arrow frog, and the Dendrobates leucomelas the orange-banded poison arrow frog.

The blue variety is at risk in the wild now due to continuing loss of its habitat - this is such a shame. They live in the tropical rainforest which we all know now are being threatened on a daily basis. It would be sad to lose these beautiful creatures. Luckily for us, they have been put on a European breeding programme.

They have relatives such as the marbled milk frog, and the Thai tree frog.

The blue poison arrow frogs (or dart frogs) are extremely brightly-coloured and toxic amphibians in the family Dendrobatidae. Because they are brightly coloured, this serves as a warning to predators, that they would be harmful to eat. The poison is located in the skin. They are fairly small measuring around 4cm.

In the wild, they love to live amongst the constantly damp leaf litter on the floor of the rainforest. They are active mostly during the mornings and the evenings.

Did you know... that the male blue poison arrow frog makes a very good father?!Each male has a piece of land on the forest floor which he defends by chirping and trilling and showing off his colours. Eventually, if his chirp and display are good enough, he will attract a female companion.

They can breed all year and the female will lay around 6to 10 eggs in a secluded patch or even a leaf. They are fertilised by the male. The male actually takes on the job of caring for the eggs during this stage and guards them carefull. He keeps them moist by obtaining water from a nearby source such as a pool. After about 3 - 4 weeks the tadpoles are ready to hatch, and the male frog allow the tadpoles to wriggle on to his back and then he carries them to a pool of water. This water could be on the forest floor, or it could be located in a leaf bract on a plant higher up from the ground. Then for a month or so the little tadpoles feed on algae until they are ready to metamorphose. (change)!

Strawberry poison arrow frogs operate slightly differently. In her case she will lay eggs that are unfertilised for the tadpoles to eat in the pools. Just like common frogs, they will first develop their hind legs, then front legs and start to lose their tail, and when this is done, they will climb out of the water and begin life on land. Once on land, they hunt and eat small invertebrates. They mature at around a year old and can lives for up to 15 years.

They like to eat insects such as ants, and the ants actually provide some of the frogs' toxins. They will also eat hatchling crickets,fruit flies and aphids. Hop from blue poison arrow frog to home page