Common Name: Black Legged Poison Dart Frog or Bicolored Dart Frog
Scientific Name: Phyllobates bicolor
Family: Dendrobatidae – Poison Dart Frog family
Locations: Colombia
Size: 1.77 – 2.1 inches (45 – 55 mm)
The Black Legged Poison Dart Frogs is one of the most poisonous frogs on earth. They aren’t as poisonous as the Golden Poison Dart Frog (Phyllobates terribilis), the world’s most poisonous frog, but still just 150 micrograms of poison is enough to kill a person. It is one of the three species of poison dart frogs that has been observed to be used to make poison darts by the locals. The natives call the frog, Neará.
They warn predators of their poison with their bright colors. Because they have no natural predators, the frogs are able to be diurnal and move around during the day. Those two traits: being diurnal and brightly colored has lead to them being introduced in the pet trade.
Once the frogs were brought into captivity, they lose their toxicity due to it coming from the native ants they eat. Their large size, for a poison dart frog, also makes them a more ideal pet frog. They have been bred in captivity thus wild caught frogs are rarely seen in the trade in the US. The frogs are social and capable of being housed in groups. They can live up to 20 years under proper care.
Like many other species of Poison Dart Frogs, the Black Legged Poison Dart Frog is a great parent. During mating, the frogs lay their eggs on a leaf or some other surface. Once the eggs hatch into tadpoles, the males carry the tadpoles on their back to a water source for them to grow up in.
Black Legged Poison Dart Frog Conservation
The International Union for the Conservation (IUCN) Red List assesses the Black Legged Poison Dart Frog as Endangered with Extinction. Habitat loss due to cattle grazing, mining, and agriculture threaten the frogs.