Reticulated Poison Frog

About the Reticulated Poison Frog

The Amazonian poison frog (Ranitomeya ventrimaculata), known in French as dendrobate à ventre tacheté, is a species of poison dart frog. It is native to South America, where it can be found in Brazil, southeastern Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, and Peru.

R. ventrimaculata secretes poison through glands in the skin which protect it from fungi and bacteria as well as from predators, which are also warned to stay clear by the aposematic coloration. It is therefore often included among the poison dart frogs, although its toxin is comparatively weak. R. ventrimaculatus produces its poison by ingestion of a species of mite.

The frog is active during the day. It grows to a size of about 20 millimetres (0.79 in), with males smaller than females. Its base color is black, and it has yellow lines or dots on the back, whereas the belly has bluish or grayish color with interspersed black patches (hence the name "ventrimaculatus"); the color of the belly continues into a netlike pattern on the legs.

R. ventrimaculata reach adulthood at an age of six months. The females attach four to eight eggs to leaves beneath the water level, where they are... Wikipedia →