Territoriality and Homing Behavior in the Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates pumilio)

Abstract

Male Dendrobates pumilio return home if displaced, suggesting that their vocal behaviors maintain territories. Many females are also site specific, perhaps because involved in parental care. Observations concerning mating behavior suggest that some D. pumilio are at times polygynous. RECENT studies relating ecology to social behavior and mating systems in anuran amphibians reveal an impressive diversity of social systems (Emlen, 1976; Wells, 1977a, b). Careful characterization of such systems are not available for most species, however. In species with vocal, hyperdispersed males, behaviors have been labeled as individual avoidance or territoriality when data to distinguish between these two superficially similar systems are lacking (Wells, 1977a). This study of Dendrobates pumilio was therefore designed to 1) test for territoriality and 2) provide a preliminary description of some breeding behaviors. D. pumilio, a "poison dart" frog (Meyers and Daly, 1976), is common in the Atlantic lowland tropical forests of Central America. It is diurnal and forages for small insects in leaf litter (Limerick, 1976). Both sexes are bright red with purple-blue legs and contain alkaloids in the skin (Albuquerque et al., 1971; Meyers and Daly, 1976). Males call from logs and tree bases. When such sites are evenly distributed on the forest floor, males appear to be hyperdispersed (Bunnell, 1973). Females lay eggs in moist leaf litter or under logs (Savage, 1968). Adults carry tadpoles from the ground to water-filled bromeliads (Starrett, 1960). Both males and females are reported to carry tadpoles (Kitasako, 1967; Silverstone, 1975; Wells, 1977b). Individual males remain in the same spot for many days and occasionally attack approaching intruders (Bunnell, 1973). Aggressive behaviors can be provoked by playing male calls through a speaker 1-2 m from a calling male (Bunnell, 1973), but such provocation does not

Female activity patterns and aggressiveness in the strawberry poison frog Dendrobates pumilio (Anura: Dendrobatidae)

“…Most eld studies dealt with male behaviour such as calling activity, territoriality, courtship behaviour and male-mating success (Limerick, 1980;McVey et al:;1981I Donnelly, 1989aBrust, 1993;Pröhl, 1997b;Pröhl and Hödl, 1999). Other than the general pattern of parental care, little is known about female behaviour.…”

Condición corporal de machos de Oophaga pumilio (Anura: Dendrobatidae) en relación con elementos del hábitat en la Estación Biológica La Selva, Sarapiquí, Costa Rica

“…donde estos defienden sitios de vocalización así como lugares de cortejo y oviposición, lo que puede incrementar su acceso a las hembras (McVey et al 1981, Pröhl 2005.…”

“…En algunas especies, como Oophaga pumilio, la territorialidad puede estar relacionada con la reproducción en machos (McVey et al 1981), así como el cuidado parental y sitios de desarrollo larval en las hembras (Haase y Pröhl 2002). Los machos defienden territorios con sitios para actividades de vocalización y para la oviposición, así como con disponibilidad de las bromelias (McVey et al 1981, Donnelly 1989, su disposición espacial depende de la distribución de las hembras, que a su vez están asociadas con sitios de desarrollo larval (Pröhl y Berke 2001).…”

“…Los machos defienden territorios con sitios para actividades de vocalización y para la oviposición, así como con disponibilidad de las bromelias (McVey et al 1981, Donnelly 1989, su disposición espacial depende de la distribución de las hembras, que a su vez están asociadas con sitios de desarrollo larval (Pröhl y Berke 2001). Los machos de O. pumilio compiten vigorosamente por áreas con alta densidad de hembras (Pröhl y Berke 2001), lo que implica que estos tengan mejor condición corporal respecto a los machos de áreas con menor densidad (Meuche et al 2012).…”

Sex-Specific Patterns of Movement and Space Use in the Strawberry Poison Frog, Oophaga pumilio

“…Relatively long-lived and conspicuously colored, dendrobatids have been studied throughout their range using mark-recapture methods. Previous home range studies and studies involving displacement and homing demonstrate that dendrobatids restrict activities to a home range and can return to the home range when displaced (McVey et al 1981). All species studied to date are known to be territorial .…”