Blue Poison Dart Frogs

[China Doll]

I saw these at the zoo a couple of weeks ago and was just having a little read about them online because I think they're fantastic and discovered they actually are not found in water I'd sort assumed they were blue because that was perhaps some sort of water camoflage (although admittedly though that seemed a bit ridiculous unless they were planning on hiding in your average our-door swimming pool) so was just wondering, does anyone know why they're actually blue? I understand certain colours to indicate poison (or not), camoflage or indeed just a bit of prancing around to atttact the ladies... But I don't understand what the significance of the blue is.

Cheers :c)

[jno]

aposematic colouration, of course

http://animals.nation...phibians/poison-frog/

One of Alfred Hitchcock's pranks once was to stage a banquet but dye all the food blue. Nobody could bring themselves to eat it. Hard to say why, but apparently blue food just looks dangerous.

[scotman]

Given that the blue colour is a warning it would need to stand out against the frog's typical surroundings.
Regarding blue food, it may just be that hardly any human food is naturally blue apart from some berries and we accept them because our parents say they're OK. We are naturally 'suspicious' of unusual things which might kill or harm us.

[China Doll]

Thank you both! Not heard of aposematic colouration before.

[jno]

oh, it's an everyday topic of conversation down the post office.

I'd never heard of it till I googled it either. In fact I'd never heard of blue frogs. Something new every day.

[China Doll]

They're really cute jno.... Probably best not to pick them up though I imagine.

[jno]

I've heard they often fail to turn into princes when you kiss them.

[Robinia]

Amazing creatures. The venom 'shows promise as a painkiller'....haha, well it would do that. I'll pop a couple in my frog pond, they'll come in handy for migraines

[jno]

yes, just apply directly to the site of the pain, Robinia

http://www.mardigraso...1553-300-frog-hat.jpg

[China Doll]

Could work for my joint pains at the moment too, bonus!

[Robinia]

err, maybe I'll just pull a leg off & stir my tea with it.

[wildwood]

I find the "Poison dart frogs raised in captivity and isolated from insects in their native habitat never develop venom" part fascinating.

No use keeping them as pets then, if you want to err... uhmm...

never mind.

[China Doll]

I know wildwood... Not quite so good for bringing in to work and letting your manager pet it...

[johnheritage]

Not all poison darts are blue, quite a lot of them are black and yellow or orange, orange and blue or blue and black.

I doubt it's camouflage so much as a warning. The different colours may be suited to the colours most visible their main nemesis, as some animals have near or entirely monochromatic vision. Humans have pretty terrible vision in terms of the entire electromagnetic spectrum (it's a hair thin line somewhere in the middle).

The poison in those frogs is actually one of the most toxic chemicals known to man, it's about as lethal as VX nerve gas in terms of the dose. Maitotoxin, from a fish in Thailand, is about 20 times worse and Botulinum Toxin is the worst, at over 2000x stronger than the frog and nerve gas, which is why Liza Minelli's face looks the way it does now.

That aside, they do look incredibly cute and very colourful. They also wake up during the day and go to bed at night, unlike most other froggies.

[China Doll]

Thank you John, I liked the other coloured poison dart frogs but the blue ones just really caught my eye, they're really lovely :c)

[society]

My goodness their colouring is spectacular! http://tinyurl.com/2ca2m8p

[China Doll]

They're beautiful and now officially my favourite frogs :c)