Common names: Mimic poison frog, imitator poison dart frog

Ranitomeya imitator (formerly Dendrobates imitator) is a type of poison dart frog

Poison dart frog

Poison dart frog is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to Central and South America. These species are diurnal and often have brightly-colored bodies...

 found in the north-central region of eastern Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

.

Reproduction and parental care

Ranitomeya imitator and related frogs exhibit a degree of parental care, with the female laying feeder eggs for the tadpoles to eat. However, unlike the Strawberry Poison-dart Frog

Strawberry Poison-dart Frog

The strawberry poison frog or strawberry poison-dart frog is a species of small amphibian poison dart frog found in Central America. It is common throughout its range, which extends from eastern central Nicaragua through Costa Rica and northwestern Panama...

 and related species, this behavior is not required and tadpoles can survive on invertebrates, algae, and detritus.

This frog is the first amphibian species in which the sexual partners have been shown to be monogamous.

Subspecies

There are no subspecies of R. imitator recognized. Instead, across Peru there are several races (or morphs

Polymorphism (biology)

Polymorphism in biology occurs when two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species — in other words, the occurrence of more than one form or morph...

) of the species, which differ by imitating the appearance of another small dart frog species in each race's locale. This is an example of Müllerian mimicry

Müllerian mimicry

Müllerian mimicry is a natural phenomenon when two or more harmful species, that may or may not be closely related and share one or more common predators, have come to mimic each other's warning signals...

. In the dart frog hobby, some hobbyists have erroneously attributed subspecies status to one or more of these races. These hobbyist-assigned names are not scientifically valid.

Captive care

The Imitator Poison-dart Frog is generally considered to be one of the easier thumbnail group frogs to care for.

External links

• Imitating Dart Frog - Ranitomeya imitator - Care and Breeding - Detailed natural history information, race/morph details with photographs, captive care, and breeding.
• Dendroboard - Your source for dart frog, and naturalistic vivaria information. An open and free community dedicated to the care of these wonderful animals.
• Dart Den - Poison dart frog resource and forums.
• Frognet - Dart frog resources for hobbyists, in operation since 1996.