Yellow-banded tree climber

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Yellow-banded tree climber
Yellow-banded tree climber (Dendrobates leucomelas)

Yellow-banded tree climber ( Dendrobates leucomelas )

Systematics
Subordination : Neobatrachia
Superfamily : Dendrobatoidea
Family : Poison Dart Frogs (Dendrobatidae)
Subfamily : Dendrobatinae
Genre : Tree climber ( dendrobates )
Type : Yellow-banded tree climber
Scientific name
Dendrobates leucomelas
Steindachner , 1869

The yellow-banded tree climber ( Dendrobates leucomelas ) is a species in the genus tree climber ( Dendrobates ) and belongs to the family of the tree climber frogs (Dendrobatidae).

features

The diurnal frog grows to between three and four centimeters, with the males mostly remaining a little smaller. It has a basic black color with two broad yellow transverse bands that run across the back and forelegs on the one hand and across the back and legs on the other. These bands have many black spots or spots. The head is also yellow on top with a broad, black spot, the throat is black. There is little difference between the sexes, but the females tend to grow larger than the males.

Color morphs and varieties

Various color morphs are known which, in addition to the light yellow color, also have orange-yellow or green-yellow markings. There are banded as well as net varieties. A variety from Guyana is more yellow and has little or no black spots in the yellow bands.

Similar species

The polymorphism is less pronounced in the yellow-banded tree climber, despite the large distribution area in northern South America, than in the two related species, the blue frog ( Dendrobates tictorius ) and the golden tree climber ( Dendrobates auratus ). The dye frog also often shows yellow-black longitudinal stripes, but the legs are usually blue net. The gold tree climber also has a yellow color morph, this has a large yellow mark, which is mostly limited to the back. The two species can be crossed with the golden yellow tree climber, but the hybrids are sterile.

The yellow-banded tree climber also resembles the harlequin tree climber in the yellow and black drawing . But there are differences in the behavior of the two species. In the yellow-banded tree climber, like the dyer's frog and the golden tree climber, the males take care of the brood and transport the larvae to the waters; in the harlequin tree climber it is the females.

distribution

Its home is mainly the rainforests in Venezuela , Colombia and Guyana. In Venezuela he lives in the catchment area of ​​the tributaries south of the Orinoco in the states of Bolívar and Amazonas . To the east the distribution area extends to the Essequibo in Guyana, south to the extreme north of Brazil and west to the tributaries of the Amazon in Colombia. It lives in the moist, wooded lowlands up to heights of almost 800 meters above sea level.

Way of life

The yellow-banded tree climber mainly lives in the ground in the damp foliage and under fallen trees. It only sometimes climbs up trees, but especially during the breeding season.

food

In nature, the food of the yellow-banded tree climber consists of 50% to 75% ants, but also other insects and mites . The frogs hunt prey with agility during the day. However, native species of ants do not play a role in keeping them in the aquaterrarium; they are spurned because of the formic acid they spray as a defense.

Depending on the stage of development, the larvae of the yellow-banded tree climber feed on detritus in their natural habitat and later on insect larvae that develop in the temporary waters. When rearing in the aqua-terrarium, they also accept dry food for ornamental fish.

Territorial behavior

The frogs live in a territory that protects them from intruders of the same species. There are territorial fights between the males, but the females can also behave aggressively against one another. This leads to wrestling matches in which an attempt is made to push the opponent to the ground, either with the front limbs or with the whole body. In addition, the males often hear a chirping call from the vocal sac.

Reproduction

In summer, during the drier season, the frogs take a break, which they spend under roots, fallen trees or stones. After the dry season, the males of the yellow-banded tree climber begin to call for the females. In contrast to the related poison dart frogs, such as the dyer's frog and the golden tree diver , which emit a rasping cry, it is a characteristic chirping.

The female follows the male to a convenient place where the eggs can be laid. After laying eggs on land, the eight or so eggs are inseminated by the male. After hatching, which takes 15 to 18 days, the larvae are carried to the water by the male. To do this, the males climb trees, where they deposit the tadpoles individually in phytotelms such as water-filled bromeliad funnels and tree hollows . After that, brood care ends. The search for suitable temporary bodies of water, in which the offspring can find sufficient water and food for the entire development period, and remain unmolested by predators , is one of the great orientation efforts of these frogs, which has not yet been adequately investigated. If the tadpoles were not separated from each other, cannibalism could result, in which the stronger larvae eat the weaker ones. Development into a frog is complete after 65 to 75 days. The females can spawn several times a year, laying around 100 eggs.

Poison

Yellow-banded tree climber

The highly toxic secretion that the frog secretes through special skin glands on the one hand fends off fungi and bacteria that otherwise settle on the sensitive frog skin (see also: chytrid fungus ) on the other hand, the poison protects the frog from predators. Its glowing signal color warns you of this. The skin secretion was used by Indians as arrow poison when hunting wild animals. That is why these and other representatives of the poison dart frogs are also known as poison dart frogs.

The batrachotoxins, poisonous alkoloids that are formed on the skin of poison dart frogs such as the gel-banded tree climber, are among the deadly poisons for humans. They cannot be absorbed through the uninjured skin, but if they get into the bloodstream through a wound, they mainly affect nerves and muscles. The conduction of stimuli is interrupted and symptoms of paralysis occur, which can lead to death. It has been proven that poison frogs need certain nutritional components that only occur in their natural environment to produce the toxins. Relationships between poison formation and the proportion of ants in the frogs' diet were found. Mites and beetles are also suspected to be suppliers of toxins that the frogs can further sequenced.

Wild-caught animals only slowly lose their toxicity when they no longer live in their natural environment and eat the food they are used to. It is therefore advisable to ensure that the species are bred in the trade. There are guarantees of origin issued by the sellers for this. In Germany, there is a reporting requirement for keeping animals in accordance with the Federal Species Protection Ordinance (BArtSchVO).

Keeping in the terrarium

The yellow-banded tree climber is a popular terrarium animal along with other types of poison dart frog. These tree climbers are mostly kept in cube terrariums with an edge length of 50 cm. However, this is the minimum size of a couple. These terrariums are set up according to the template of the tropical rainforest with leaf litter, roots and a lush planting of bromeliads, mosses, ferns and tendrils. The side walls are often clad with Xaxim on the inside , as it plants itself. The necessary humidity of over 80% is achieved through automated rain nozzles or through daily spraying with a hand pump. The lighting from fluorescent tubes required for the animals and plants usually ensures that the pool is adequately heated at 25-30 ° C.

Breeding proves to be difficult, as the offspring often suffer from so-called "matchstick legs". These are underdeveloped mostly front limbs. The cause of this underdevelopment is seen as the sum of unfavorable factors in the keeping of the parent animals, but also of the tadpoles. In particular, one-sided nutrition in captivity is discussed again and again as a possible cause. In domestic animal husbandry, this usually only consists of fruit flies ( Drosophila ), springtails ( Collembola ), bean beetles and furnacefish . The rearing of burbot is often done with flake fish food, which spoils the water in which the burbot live very quickly.

Inventory and protection status

Distribution area according to IUCN

In the distribution area of ​​the yellow-banded tree climber, there are also some protected areas south of the Orinoco in Venezuela . According to the IUCN , the size of the total population is not known, but the species is considered common and is therefore considered to be of least concern .

The yellow-banded tree climber ( Dendrobates leucomelas ) is listed in Appendix II of the Washington Convention on the Protection of Species (CITES) or in Appendix B of the EU ArtSchVO (EC). This restricts the export and import of wild-caught fish.

Research history

Franz Steindachner described the yellow-banded tree climber in 1864 after a specimen from Colombia that was kept in the Natural History Museum in Vienna and was labeled with the name Dendrobates leucomela . However, he did not recognize a new species, but pointed out the similarity with Phyllobates auratus , which today as Dendrobates auratus ( gold tree climber) is one of the closest relatives of the yellow-banded tree climber, but is recognized as a separate species. Steindachner saw both the yellow-banded tree climber and the gold tree climber only as varieties of the dye frog ( Dendrobates tictorius ). He described their yellow signal color as " rubbery good yellow ".

Philip Arthur Silverstone dealt a century later with the relationships of the poison dart frogs. Based on anatomical and external morphological features, he also recognized a close relationship between the species represented today in the subfamily Dendrobatinae , such as Dendrobates auratus and Dendrobates tinctorius , but identified the yellow-banded tree climber because of the similarity of the black and yellow pattern with the harlequin tree climber , at that time under the scientific one Name known as Dendrobates histrionicus , in its own group. Later, however, after molecular genetic studies, it turned out that the genetic distance between the two species is greater than originally thought. The harlequin tree climber was therefore placed in the genus Oophaga as Oophaga histrionica .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Klaus Kreyerhoff: Dendrobates leucomelas - the yellow-banded tree climber. My findings about their keeping and breeding. Retrieved February 22, 2013 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h T. Ostrowski, T. Mahn: Species description Dendrobates leucomelas . DendroBase.de - An online database of the family Dendrobatidae (Anura). Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  3. ^ Peter Dollinger: Yellow-banded Baumsteiger ( Dendrobates leucomelas ) . Zoo animal lexicon, accessed on May 30, 2020.
  4. ↑ Peter Dollinger: Harlequin tree climber ( Oophaga histrionica ) . Zoo animal lexicon, accessed on May 30, 2020.
  5. ^ Darrel R. Frost: Dendrobates leucomelas Steindachner, 1864 . Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference, Version 6.1, American Museum of Natural History, New York 1998-2020, accessed May 25, 2020.
  6. ↑ a b c d Michael J. Lannoo, Priya Nanjappa: Dendrobates leucomelas . Art portrait from Amphibiaweb, University of California, Berkeley 2020, accessed on May 25, 2020.
  7. ↑ a b c Janalee P. Caldwell: The evolution of myrmecophagy and its correlates in poison frogs (Family Dendrobatidae). September 1996 doi : 10.1111 / j.1469-7998.1996.tb05487.x
  8. ↑ a b Bibiana Rojas & Andrius Pašukonis: From habitat use to social behavior: natural history of a voiceless poison frog, Dendrobates tinctorius. PeerJ, 7, e7648, September 2019, doi : 10.7717 / peerj.7648 .
  9. ↑ K. Summers Metabolism and parental care in ectotherms: a comment on Beekman et al. Behavioral Ecology, 30, 3, pp. 593-594. doi : 10.1093 / beheco / arz038 .
  10. ↑ Kristina B. Beck, Matthias-Claudio Loretto, Max Ringler, Walter Hödl & Andrius Pašukonis: Relying on known or exploring for new? Movement patterns and reproductive resource use in a tadpole-transporting frog. PeerJ, 5, e3745, August 2017.
  11. ↑ Yellow-banded poison dart frog - Schönbrunn Zoo. Retrieved May 29, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Frog poison . From pfeilgiftfrosch.info, 2014, accessed on May 30, 2020.
  13. ↑ a b Dendrobates leucomelas in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2004. Posted by: Enrique La Marca, Claudia Azevedo-Ramos, 2004. Retrieved on 25 May 2020th
  14. ^ Franz Steindachner : Batrachologische Mittheilungen. Negotiations of the Zoological-Botanical Association in Vienna, 14, pp. 239–288, 1864, pp. 260–261
  15. ^ Philip A. Silverstone: A revision of the poison-arrow frogs of the genus Dendrobates Wagler. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Scientific Bulletin, 21, pp. 1-55, 1975.
  16. ↑ T. Grant, DR Frost, JP Caldwell, R. Gagliardo, CFB Haddad, PJR Kok, DB Means, BP Noonan, WE Schargel & WC Wheeler (2006): Phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Amphibia: Athesphatanura : Dendrobatidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 299, p. 262 PDF online .
  17. ↑ Lucas Bauer: New names in the family Dendrobatidae (Anura, Amphibia). Ripa, Netherlands Case 1-6, 1994

literature

  • Franz Steindachner : Batrachologische Mittheilungen. Negotiations of the Zoological-Botanical Association in Vienna, 14, pp. 239–288, 1864, pp. 260–261 (first description)

Web links

Commons : Yellow-banded Baumsteiger  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files