Strawberry (Blue-Jean) Poison-Dart Frog: Jewel of the Rainforest

Found along the Atlantic coast of Central America from northern Guatemala to Panama, with the greatest concentration in Costa Rica, it seems as if they are all headed to the land of beauty queens - to find a princess for that spell-breaking kiss that would turn the lucky one into a prince.

But think twice - it could be the kiss of death - you could soon find yourself singing ‘when the saints go marching in’ in strawberry fields, forever!

The strawberry poison-dart frog is no prince in disguise. It gets its first name, ‘Strawberry’ from the close resemblance its body has to a dewy strawberry; its surname, ‘Poison-Dart’ because certain South American Indian tribes rub their blowgun dart tips in the poisonous mucous of the frog’s skin; its middle name, ‘Blue-Jean’ because of its purple-blue legs. It is also known as the ‘Jewel of the Rainforest’ because its vivid colours contrast strikingly with the dull greens and browns of its habitat making it look like a precious gem on the velvet-like mossy floor of the forest – talk about aliases!

The poison glands in the skin of this frog produce one of the most toxic alkaloids in nature. However, it cannot kill by touch alone. The toxin must enter the bloodstream through a cut or by ingestion. This will cause convulsions and ultimately, death.

But the frog does not use its poison for capturing prey – it uses it as a back-up defense mechanism, in case its ‘Red-Alert’ warning colours fail to keep predators at bay. When it spots insects with its sharp eyesight, it sits perfectly still. As the unwary prey passes within range, it shoots out its long, sticky tongue, which retracts into its mouth, insect and all, in the blink of an eye! Oh, and a bad-tasting insect is spat out with as much speed.

Living near water, in leaf litter and moss and on low, overhanging branches, these frogs are highly territorial, sometimes wrestling intruders to the death.

Attracting his princess with elaborate calls, the prince leads her to a site near where she lays 4 to 6 eggs per clutch and he fertilizes them.

After 10 to 12 days, when the eggs are ready to hatch, the female steps into the egg mass to release the tadpoles.

The female carries one or two tadpoles at a time on her back and places them in separate tree hollows so they don’t eat each other.

Besides their diet of insect larvae, the mother lays an unfertilized egg into each of these water filled hollows every few days, for the tadpoles to feed on.

In three weeks, the tadpoles emerge as froglets and disappear into the forest.

Interestingly, when Blue-Jean is in captivity, it loses its lethal toxicity. It has been deduced that something in its diet in the wild, possibly ants, produces the toxins. This in turn has made strawberry poison-dart frogs popular as exotic pets!

Copyright © 2007 Noël Gama
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