Here is your red things in nature fact of the day. The strawberry poison-dart frog of Central America has 15-30 different color morphs. My favorite is the blue jeans morph like the one in the photo The males will stand on their hind legs and wrestle with their rivals. The winning male will lead a female to a place to lay her eggs, such as in a curved leaf. The female lays 3 to 4 eggs and then leaves. The male keeps the eggs moist by emptying his bladder on them. He also eats any eggs that are infected with fungi or that do not develop, as well as any eggs left by other males. Tadpoles hatch after one week, when the female returns. One to four tadpoles at a time squirm onto her back, and she carries each one to a different plant or leaf stem that is holding water—bromeliads are often the choice. The tadpole chooses its spot by vibrating when the mother gets to a place it likes. Sometimes this is high up in the trees. Each tadpole is placed in a separate plant, where the mother leaves it with 1 to 5 unfertilized eggs for protein and nutrients. For more than a month, the female returns every few days to feed her young. #redweek #red #frogs #strawberrypoisondartfrog #amphibians #natureclub

Posted by Mel Grosvenor at 2021-05-19 12:35:14 UTC