Yellow-banded Dart Frog

Scientific name: Dendrobates leucomelas
Family: Dendrobatidae
Order: Anura
Class: Amphibia

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Dendrobates leucomelas is also known as the Yellow-Banded Dart Frog or Bumblebee Poison Dart Frog. This particular frog is poisonous, and is the largest species of its genus. They are recognized by their brightly saturated colors found on their tiny bodies. They are colored black with yellow stripes on their head, back and legs. Black spots are also found on and around their yellow stripes.

The length of the YellowBanded Dart Frog ranges from one to about five centimeters although lengths of five centimeters are rarely reached. Females are often much bigger and thicker than males. They have unique glandular adhesive pads on their toes and fingertips, which help them to climb and stay in a stationary position. They produce a special skin secretion that serves as a highly potent nerve toxin. Their brightly colored bodies are beautiful and serve as warning labels for predators distinguishing them as a poisonous meal. Indigenous people of Central and South America have been using the poison from these frogs (Dendrobatidae) to coat their darts, which they use to catch many birds and rodents. Research scientists have discovered that the skin toxin studied have pharmacological properties, and some compounds of this skin toxin have proved to be valuable in biomedical research.

DISTRIBUTION and HABITAT:

The Yellow-Banded Dart Frogs geographic distribution is in the evergreens and tropical rain forests of Venezuela, South America, and in Central America. They prefer humid rain forests, with temperatures often reaching 30 degrees Celsius or warmer, and about 50 to 800 meters above sea level. They are found on forest floors in leaf litter, and on fallen trees and stones. Some frogs also can be found living in tropical trees. A related species, the Green and Black Dart Frog, has been introduced in Hawaii.

BEHAVIOR:

Like most frogs, Yellow-Banded Dart Frogs are diurnal and they are very aggressive when it comes to their territory. Different species rarely overlap territories.

DIET:

All Dart Frogs share the same kind of diet, which consists of ants, termites, tiny beetles, crickets, and other small insects and spiders.

BREEDING:

Buzzing, humming, trilling or chirping sounds are used to describe the Yellow-Banded Dart frogs mating calls. The male will court the female using these mating calls, while displaying his bright body colors. The parental behavior of the Yellow-Banded Dart Frog is interesting because the female rarely participates in the care of her young. The female will lay 100-1000 eggs per year and will produce about 2-12 eggs in each clutch. Eggs are known to hatch within 10-14 days, and the tiny frogs have a growth period of about two to three months before reaching sexual maturity. The female leaves her eggs in the care of the male immediately after the eggs are laid. The male carefully transports the eggs in his mouth to little nearby water reservoirs where he guards, and keeps eggs moist and wet.

Wild Population:

The Yellow Banded-Dart Frog is not an endangered species.