📸 PhotoPhoto: Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Strawberry Poison Frog
Oophaga pumilio (Strawberry Poison Frog · イチゴヤドクガエル)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum body length of 24 mm is the same as the diameter of a Korean 100-won coin (24 mm in diameter) (Comparison).
- 💡 It is sometimes illegally caught and sold as a pet, and its diverse color morphs make it widely used in research on warning coloration (ADW).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Strawberry Poison Frog is a tiny poison frog living in leaf litter on the floor of Central American rainforests, famous for its wide variety of color morphs.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
A small, slender frog with an adult body length of 17–24 mm, it has 4 unwebbed digits on each hand and foot. It typically has a red body with blue legs, though colors vary greatly by region while remaining similar within the same population.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It eats small arthropods—mainly ants and mites—and excretes toxins derived from ants through its skin. Females lay eggs on land and then carry tadpoles one by one to water-filled bromeliads to raise them until metamorphosis, while males wrestle for up to 20 minutes in territorial disputes.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2015) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/55196/3025630
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 49SSQ
- • iucnredlist.org — 3025630
- • wikidata.org — Q786955
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Strawberry poison dart frog (70539).jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Oophaga pumilio
- • bok.or.kr — contents.do
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — 于川云 · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.