| Discovery |
Boulenger, G.A. (1883): On a collection of frogs from Yurimaguas, Huallaga River, northern Peru. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1883(4): 635E538, pls. 57-58.
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| Type locality |
Yurimaguas, Huallaga river, noord Peru in the Loreto province.
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| Holotype |
British Museum of Natural History, London: BM (NH) 1947.2.15.5-12, syntypes (8 exx). Collector: Dr. Hahnel
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| Etymology |
rete (L.)= web, reticulatus = web like pattern, referring to the web like pattern on the legs.
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| Classification |
Dendrobates reticulatus is a member of the Dendrobates quinquevittatus-group. Type taxon of the genus Ranitomeya. Bauer (1985, MPA April 1985: 6 pp; published by "Natuur Boek", Den Haag, The Netherlands) made D.reticulatus the type-species of the genus he described as Ranitomeya. Besides reticulatus he added the opisthomelas species to this group, granuliferus, fantasticus and, according to him, minutus and quinquevittatus as well. Where he saw steyermarki as synonym of opisthomelas. This step has been criticised by well known taxonomists in the field of herpetology (Myers 1987, Pap. Avulsos Zool. 36(25): 302) and never been followed. The species of the quinquevittatuscomplex are without exception members of the genus Dendrobates, just like granuliferus, and the species opisthomelas, minutus and steyermarki are placed within the genus Minyobates (with exception of D.steyermarki). Looking at the current composition of the genus Dendrobates it does not seem unlikely that the genus will be spilt further and we will have to see which names are still available in the international nomenclature rules.
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| Synonymy |
Dutch name: Roodrug gifkikker
English name: Red-backed Poison Frog
German name: Rotrücken Baumsteigerfrosch
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| History |
George Boulenger, herpetologist and ichthyologist, associated with the British Museum of Natural History in London described this species in 1883 based on specimens collected by Dr. Hahnel near Yuriamguas on the River Huallaga in northern Peru. In this same publication, he described the closely related species D.fantasticus. According to Boulenger the are closely related to Dendrobates tinctorius, but you will have to consider that species like tinctorius and quinquevittatus as we know them nowadays, had been mixed up at that time which makes it easier to understand. Silverstone in his revision of the genus Dendrobates (l976: 33) saw Dendrobates quinquevittatus as a very variable species and he thought of species like D.reticulatus, D.fantasticus and D.ventrimaculatus as synonym of D.quinquevittatus. Charles W. Myers (1982, Amer. Mus. Novit. 2721: 3-4) and Caldwell & Myers (1990, Amer. Mus. Novit. 2988: 1-21) proved D.quinquevittatus to be a well distinguishable species with a small distribution area in the Rondónia province in Brazil with a well recognisable colouring: a black body with five green or light blue stripes and red-brown legs with spots. Which is a species not yet to be found in our hobby. According to them further well distinguishable species were D.reticulatus, D.fantasticus, D.vanzolinii, D.captivus, D.mysteriosus, D.imitator and D.castaneoticus. All populations they were not able to give a place, were temporarily placed under Dendrobates ventrimaculatus, a repository of all kinds of species we will have to re-arrange in the future. Including the well known species that are familiar in our hobby known as 'quinquen'. Dendrobates variabilis had been seen by them temporarily as synonym of D.ventrimaculatus because Schulte was not able to give the exact type locality in his first description. Henle (1992, Bonn. zool Beitr43(1): 102) restored this omission. The last few years some additional species have been described that should probably be added to the Dendrobates quinquevittatus-group: D. lamasi and D.biolat (see Mudde, 1997, ATH l(4): 24-27). D.sirensis from eastern Peru looks more like a Minyobates-species.
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| Physical description |
Just like other members of the D.quinquevittatus-group, D.reticulatus is a small species. D.reticulatus is the smallest species in this group: males up to 15 mm and females up to 16.5 mm. The skin is slightly granular on the back and belly. The tympanum is about half the size of the eye. The hands and fingers are smaller then with the other species of the D.quinquevittatuscomplex, what might be caused due to the fact that they climb less then the other species. Their back is coloured red or orange-red from snout to the middle of the back or even up to the hind legs. The back part of the back and the legs have a web-like drawing in blue or green on a black base. The eye is black. On the throat they have an orange spot. There does not seem to be a clear distinction between males and females in colouring or size. The only certainty is the buzzing call of the male.
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| Distribution |
The type locality is Yurimaguas on the Rio Huallaga, a tributary of the Rio Ucayali, the upper Amazon drainage. Yurimaguas is situated o the bottom of the eastern slope of the Andes. All other localities are about 400 km to the north-east close to Iquitos in the Amazon basin. Myers R. Daly (Myers, 1982: 4) collected this species about 35 km to the southwest of Iquitos and Tomey (1984: 316) along the Rio Nauta, 50-60 km to the south. The animals imported to Europe a few years ago came from the area of Iquitos as well.
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| Biotope |
Some data on their natural biotope can be found near Tomey (1984: 314-315). He caught them in impenetrable primary tropical rainforest on or near the bottom. He also found their larvae during the rainy season in this area in small pools that were filled with water dripping down from the trees. These pools were found on relatively higher grounds. Myers found these animals up to two meters on logs, but never in bromeliads in the trees, where the sympatric D.ventrimaculatux quinquevittatus (?) was to be found.
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| Care and breeding |
Experiences with the care of this species have been very different. It is not an easy species to keep and most certainly not an easy species to breed. The imports from a few years ago were all in very bad condition and infected with a lot of parasites. This caused the about 700 import animals to die very fast. Only a few were successful in breeding them in small amounts, which adds the total amount of animals in The Netherlands to about fifty. The experiences of Tonnie Woeltjes with this species is that a vivarium of 70 length x 45 x 45 cm is to small for two couples. The suppressed male will die soon. Another breeder keeps three couples of D. reticulates in a vivarium of 60 x 60 x 40 cm and another keeps five animals in a vivarium of only 30 x 40 x 40 cm and they are both breeding them!
A good report on the reproduction behaviour can be found with Zimmermann & Zimmermann (1984, p. 40). The 2 or 3 eggs are about, 2 mm in size, they are usually placed on horizontal smooth places, but Harald Garretsen (1995: 36) has found them on the side window of his vivarium as well. Black plastic film boxes are a popular place for the eggs according to many. The eggs hatch after 8-11 days. The male as well as the female takes the larvae to a small water like a plastic film boxes or funnel of a bromeliad. Helmut and Elke Zimmermann observed the placement of non-fertilised eggs laid by the female by the female, but artificial raising can be successful as well (Garretsen, 1995). Again I would like to urge to not breed the natural behavior out of the animals! After about 2 months the metamorphosis is complete and the froglets will be about 1 cm. Springtails are necessary for raising the froglets, the parents like springtails as well, besides fruit flies and other small insects. After about eight months the froglets are fully grown. They can be kept at a day temperature of 25-27°C.
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| Foto's |
The foto's ( with the copyright mark ) published here with the kind permission of www.pumilio.com ©
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| Films |
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