In Costa Rica, you can’t ignore them: the Oophaga pumilio. Pumilio means dwarf, and although they are barely 3 cm tall, it is hard to miss the poisonous strawberry frogs. In English, they are called Strawberry Poison Dart frogs because indigenous peoples used to use their poison to makepoison darts. They are also affectionately called the “blue jeans frog,” because they often look like red frogs in jeans. Although they are by no means all the same colors. There are some that are completely red or blue, rather yellow, green or orange, or with black stripes or dots. In total, there are some 15 to 30 color variations.
Stolen poison
Those colors are there to scare off possible attackers, they signal: “Hey, I’m poisonous! You don’t want to eat me!”. Except for the females, who love it. Research shows that the females look for a male who have the same colors as their own parents. Females are much less attracted to poison dart frogs with different colors. Probably for survival reasons, because when the colors mix, their message to the predators and their chances of survival diminishes as well.
This message, by the way, is not a lie. The little frogs are quite poisonous. The toxins on their skin attack the heart and neurological system. The victims experience convulsions, paralysis and eventually death. Of course it is best to stay away from frogs, for everyone’s good, but you won’t die right away if one jumps on your feet. Their poison is especially effective if you eat the frogs, or if the poison gets into open wounds. Another poison frog, the golden arrow poison frog, is known to have enough venom to kill an adult human.
By the way, strawberry frogs don’t make all that poison themselves. The frogs eat ants, centipedes and mites among other things, and recycle their poison. Consequently, frogs kept as pets often lose their venom because they are not fed the proper diet. And speaking of diet, frogs do love a tasty snack, for example, they eat up to 14 times an hour!
Because of the venom, the frogs hardly have any natural enemies. So far, only the fire-bellied snake is known to be a threat. And humans of course, because of habitat loss for the frogs. Although humans are also fans of the frog, considering scientists are synthesizing their venom to market as a muscle relaxant, heart stimulant and painkiller!
Gummi bears
The frogs can be found in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama and spend their time among the leaves on the forest floor of tropical rainforests, although you may also occasionally see them climbing up lianas or trees. Unlike most amphibians, they are active during the day. Frogs are territorial and both males and females fight each other to defend their territory from intruders. Although fighting without claws or teeth is quite difficult. Doctor Yusan Yang, who studies frogs, compared it to a wrestling match between gummy bears. A wrestling match that can last as long as 20 minutes.Tthe frogs communicate about their territory, and their wild love plans through vibrations. For example, by tapping their middle toe.
Caring parents
In Strawberry poison dart frogs, there is an amazing amount of parental care. The mother lays 2 to 5 eggs on leaves or on the axillary buds of bromeliad plants. This is very few, compared to other frogs that lay hundreds of eggs! To compensate, they lay eggs several times during the rainy season (from May to November), with a maximum of once a week. During this period, the father waters the different puddles, with water from his cloaca. After 7 to 10 days, the eggs hatch and mom carries the tadpoles one by one on her back to a separate puddle high in the trees. Like water left in a leaf or between the roots of a plant. Just as well that mom gives them each their own puddle, because other species of poison dart frogs are known to exhibit cannibalistic tendencies as tadpoles. Fortunately, then, mom keeps them apart and lays unfertilized eggs with the tadpoles to serve as food. The mother makes her rounds daily to feed the little ones. She feeds only her offspring because even though other tadpoles beg for eggs, the strawberry frog can distinguish its own offspring by their unique vibrations. And so the parents take care of their offspring for at least a month before they go from tadpole to frog.
Incredible but true, strawberry frogs can live up to 15 years in captivity! In the wild, this is less clear.
In July we told about the expansion of Adopt Rainforest’s reserve through the purchase of 48.5 acres of land. This parcel is very important because it forms a land bridge between the foundation’s current reserve and Barbilla National Park. Much of the new plot is existing forest, but there are also several acres of pasture […]
More than 11 years ago, the founders of the Adopt Rainforest foundation visited this beautiful area for the first time. What a beautiful area with giant big trees, several rivers and an enormous biodiversity of plants and animals. Yet there was something they both noticed immediately. There were no monkeys at all. (more…)
Critically endangered parrot species Yesterday the research program of Adopt Rainforest participated in the Censo Internacional de la Guacamaya Verde 2022. Or in English the International Sensus of the Great Green Macaw. Throughout its distribution, dozens of organisations participate in the next days to get an understanding of the current state of this parrot species. […]
In recent years we have already seen many rare and unusual animals in our reserve such as the Northern Nacked-tailed Armadillo, Black-and-White Hawk-Eagle and several felines. However, what we recently encountered is many times more interesting to scientists. In 1989, Epigomphus houghtoni, the Limon Knobtail, a dragonfly species was described by Stephen Brooks based on […]
Costa Rica, a country of which almost half is rainforest, is a true birding paradise. More than 900 species of birds can be found here. One of the most beautiful and special birds that has its habitat in Costa Rica, however, is the Resplendent Quetzal. A good reason to go bird watching in Costa Rica!
The mantle howler monkey is one of the largest monkeys in Central America, with males reaching a height of nearly a meter and a weight of up to 10 kg. It is one of 15 species of howler monkeys. Unfortunately, some of those species are endangered, mainly because of habitat loss and capture, for instance […]
What is deforestation anyway? This term is used to describe the process by which trees give way to agriculture and livestock. Deforestation takes place in large numbers every day, especially in the Amazon rainforest. Not a pretty thing! The consequences? Cutting down trees not only means loss of our beautiful nature and biodiversity. It has an effect on the ambient temperature: it rises. This increase is caused by burning trees and because oxygen (O2) gives way to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Trees store a lot of CO2 and this is released during deforestation. The numbers? Don’t be alarmed: around 13 million hectares of forest disappear on Earth every year, according to the FAO. To make it a little more tangible: this equals 18,207,280 football fields. Approximately 34 soccer fields per second! (more…)
What is sustainability and why is it important? Sustainability is a much-used word, for example, sustainability can have a meaning in relation to the environment and climate, but it can also have a social and economic meaning. Because it is such a broad concept, it can be quite difficult to properly understand what sustainability actually […]
Stichting Adopteer Regenwoud’s research project is entering an exciting new phase thanks to a long-term collaboration with Utrecht University. The foundation was ready for a new step to professionalize the research project and Utrecht University was looking for a stable and reliable partner in Central America to conduct solid research in the rainforest. So for both parties this is a wonderful collaboration! Because of this we will make a big step in professionalizing our current research on biodiversity in our reserve. Together with the visiting students we will focus on scientific research in which the diversity and development of nature in our reserve, with an emphasis on flora, is central.
What’s with the fur? Why do sloths sleep so much? This month, the three-fingered sloth is the animal of the month at Adopt Rainforest. And what’s more fun than hearing from one of the founders of Adopt Rainforest some fun facts that you won’t find in a standard biology book. Maarten van der Beek is one of the biologists at Adopt Rainforest and lives on the Work With Nature reserve in Costa Rica. (more…)
In the spring of 2023, there was suddenly an opportunity to go to Costa Rica for Adopt Rainforest. I was also in Costa Rica a year earlier and there someone tipped me off about an organization of two Dutch guys who were working to protect and restore the rainforest. When I got home I decided […]
It’s World Rainforest Day today (June 22)! A day to put our world’s rainforests in the spotlight because it’s mega important to protect them. Do you know which are the largest rainforests in the world? In this blog we will show them to you. We start at spot 10. (more…)
Discover our special partnership with the Bromelia Specialist, where passion for the Bromelia plant and the conservation of Costa Rican rainforest come together. For three years, the Bromelia Specialist has supported the work of Adopteer Regenwoud in protecting the origins of the Bromelia plant, while providing Europe with the most beautiful Bromelia products. Behind the […]
With green plants that originated in the tropical rainforest. By: Annemarie Silkens Costa Rica is known for its amazing flora and fauna, especially in the rainforests and cloud forests. Costa Rica‘s plant world is very extensive and varied. Over 12,000 different plant species (of which more than 1200 species of orchids!) are found. Climate, soil […]
This beautiful blue butterfly, measuring up to 15-20 cm, seems to appear and disappear with every flick of its wings. In fact, its underside is a clever trick of Mother Nature. On the underside, it is inconspicuous reddish-brown, with eyes to deter attackers. The bright iridescent blue, in turn, is to deter competition and attract females.
Anyone who has traveled through the Americas knows them anyway, a stream of ants all carrying leaves with them. It looks like a mini highway that can go on for 30 meters. We’re talking about leaf-cutter ants of course. For tourists a source of amazement, for local farmers and vegetable gardeners a real plague that […]
Many people are a bit creeped out by vultures because of their specific appearance and the fact that they eat cadavers. However, vultures are indispensable to nature; they are real cleaners. Read all about vultures and why they are indispensable to the ecosystem here.
In recent years, the reserve of the Adopt Rainforest Foundation has been easy for project manager Maarten to oversee. Two or three times a week he and the students make his rounds through the project area for the biodiversity research. For this research they visit several plots of the area, giving them a good insight into what is happening. Should any illegal logging occur, it is immediately noticed. The same goes for illegal hunting. In addition to the local presence, camera traps are hung at various places in the reserve. These are checked weekly. Should hunters or poachers walk through our reserve, this is quickly noticed.
When a butterfly flies by, most people do stop for a moment to follow it with their eyes. They often have beautiful colors and the large soft wings compared to the small body make them look almost cuddly. In Costa Rica there are more than 1200 species of butterflies and of course we are very curious about the species that occur in the reservation of Adopt Rainforest.
Let’s start right away with a fun fact: Costa Rica covers only 0.3% of the Earth’s surface, but you will find almost 5% of the world’s flora and fauna species! Per area, Costa Rica has the highest biodiversity in the world!
And then there you are, atop a hilltop, having a good cry. Or frantically trying not to let your fellow volunteer see how touched you are. My name is Zoë, I live near Hasselt in Belgium. I am an adult education teacher, and enthusiastic but very novice when it comes to nature. I would like to tell you about my wonderful experiences as a volunteer in the reserve of Adopt Rainforest.
Did you know that 5% of all species of flora and fauna in the world live and grow in Costa Rica? Also, Costa Rica is in the global top 20 countries with the greatest biodiversity! Are you a real nature lover? Then put Costa Rica on your bucket list. But… before you pull your backpack and passport out of the closet, we want to give you a lesson about biodiversity. Maybe you have what it is, but to refresh your memory we’ll explain it to you in this blog. (more…)
Humanity has cleared countless acres of forest over the centuries. But not all forests are the same. Sure, a forest in Costa Rica has trees and squirrels, just like a forest here in Europe. But while we can certainly draw comparisons between our temperate forests and tropical forests, there are many differences. In this blog post, we take a closer look at why tropical rainforest logging is even more disastrous and how the consequences extend much further. And logging is certainly ongoing. Globally, the tropics lost 4.1 million hectares of primary forest in 2022, 10% more than in 2021, the platform Global Forest Watch reported.(more…)
My youngest daughter Iris is studying Applied Biology in Den Bosch. I visited her at her internship site in Costa Rica, where she stayed for 5 months. I am writing a piece about this because in addition to visiting my daughter, I had the opportunity to provide first aid training for the foundation’s staff and […]
Despite uncertain economic times and the impact of Corona, the Foundation has some fantastic news to report. Over the past few months, we had to pull out all the stops and negotiate hard to acquire an important piece of land. And we succeeded! We were able to expand the reserve by 65 hectares, or 650,000 square meters!
This message, by the way, is not a lie. The little frogs are quite poisonous. The toxins on their skin attack the heart and neurological system. The victims experience convulsions, paralysis and eventually death. Of course it is best to stay away from frogs, for everyone’s good, but you won’t die right away if one jumps on your feet. Their poison is especially effective if you eat the frogs, or if the poison gets into open wounds. Another poison frog, the golden arrow poison frog, is known to have enough venom to kill an adult human.
on with Utrecht University. The foundation was ready for a new step to professionalize the research project and Utrecht University was looking for a stable and reliable partner in Central America to conduct solid research in the rainforest. So for both parties this is a wonderful collaboration! Because of this we will make a big step in professionalizing our current research on biodiversity in our reserve. Together with the visiting students we will focus on scientific research in which the diversity and development of nature in our reserve, with an emphasis on flora, is central.