Why Are They Called Poison Dart Frogs? Blowgun Darts Explained

Who used frogs to poison darts?

The practice belongs to the Emberá and Wounaan (also called Noanamá) peoples of the Chocó region on Colombia’s Pacific side, one of the wettest rainforests on Earth. Hunters used long blowguns to shoot light darts at birds and mammals, especially animals high in the forest canopy, and the poison made sure the prey fell quickly.

European travelers described the use of frog poison in this region from the 19th century onward. The most detailed study came in 1978, when herpetologists Charles W. Myers and Borys Malkin and chemist John W. Daly described the golden poison frog as a new species. They worked with Emberá hunters at Quebrada Guangui, recorded how blowguns and darts were made, and analyzed the frogs’ toxins.

Which frogs were used for darts?

Three Colombian species are documented:

All three carry batrachotoxin, one of the most potent natural poisons known; see how poisonous is the golden poison frog?. The other members of the family, from the strawberry poison dart frog of Central America to the dyeing poison dart frog of the Guianas, are not known to have been used for darts at all.

How were blowgun darts poisoned?

The method depended on the frog. For the two less toxic species, accounts describe hunters stressing the frog, often by holding it near a fire, until its skin produced a frothy secretion. Darts were then rolled in or dipped into it.

The golden poison frog was so toxic that this was unnecessary. Myers and his colleagues reported that Emberá hunters simply rubbed the tips of their darts across the back of a living frog and then let the darts dry. Darts poisoned in this way were said to remain potent for a year or more.

As in other South American blowgun traditions, the darts were typically thin slivers of palm wood with a tuft of plant fiber at the base, so that they fit snugly in the tube and could be blown with force.

Why do most dart frogs have nothing to do with darts?

The family Dendrobatidae contains roughly 200 species across Central and South America, from Nicaragua to Bolivia and southern Brazil. Most carry far weaker alkaloids than batrachotoxin, and many dull brown species carry little or none. Their toxins taste bitter and can make predators sick, but they would not make a dart deadly.

So the name is a historical accident. Naturalists named the whole family after its most famous members, and the label stuck. Today many scientists simply call the family poison frogs, and some popular books use poison arrow frog, which is even less accurate because the darts were fired from blowguns, not bows.

What do the scientific names mean?

The family name Dendrobatidae comes from Greek words meaning “tree walker”, after the genus Dendrobates, although many species actually live on the ground. The genus Phyllobates means “leaf walker”, a fitting name for frogs that hop over the leaf litter of the rainforest floor.

The golden poison frog’s species name, terribilis, is Latin for “terrible” or “frightful”. Myers and his colleagues chose it in 1978 because of the frog’s extraordinary toxicity, and their paper’s title called it “a dangerously toxic new frog”. The common name “golden poison frog” refers to the yellow color form, but the species also comes in orange and pale mint-green forms.

Where do the frogs get the poison?

The frogs do not make their toxins. They take them up from tiny ants, mites and beetles in their diet and store them in skin glands, which is why frogs raised in captivity are not toxic. The full story is in why are poison dart frogs poisonous?.

This diet link also explains why only certain frogs in certain forests were used. Hunters knew which local frogs were most toxic, and the most dangerous species, the golden poison frog, lives only in a small area of the Colombian Chocó.

Do people still hunt with dart frogs?

The tradition has become rare. Shotguns, changing ways of life and the loss of forest have replaced most blowgun hunting, although the knowledge survives in communities of the region. The golden poison frog is now listed as Endangered by the IUCN, mainly because its small forest home is being cleared.

The bright colors that warned predators also attracted collectors, which is why wild frogs should be left in place; see can you touch a poison dart frog?.