Dendrobates quinquevittatus

the real one is from Northern Brazil. It is a fast and rather shy frog, living on the forest floor. Larvae were found in all kinds of little waters on the forest floor, sometimes three larvae in one container.

Dendrobates castaneus

is called castaneus because the frogs were observed to deposit their larvae in the empty shells of Brazil nuts. Sometimes there were up to six together in one shell and even other dendrobatid larvae lived together with them. The frogs live on the forest floor and are shy and fast.

Dendrobates vanzolinii

has not been well observed in nature.
I have failed to find many biological facts.

Dendrobates variabilis

Myers and Daly have put Dendrobates variabilis in the fridge, since they find the type description a bit sloppy (not their words). For vivarium practice, it would be better to recognise this form for the time being. Points of recognition are: the single black blotch on the nose and only four recognisable toes. It is not a floor-dweller, but lives up to six meters high on trunks etc. Larvae are black, on which lighter stripes appear later on.

Dendrobates imitator
 
is the five-toed counterpart of variabilis, with two blotches on the nose and a net-like pattern on the back. Larvae are greenish on which black blotches appear. These frogs are also not really floor dwellers, but live a half to one and a half meter above it on the foliage.

Dendrobates biolat

has a characteristic yellow cross on the head. It lives on bamboo and has greyish larvae.

Dendrobates lamasi

has a yellow venter and a whitish chest. Also three stripes seem to be characteristic. These little frogs live in bromeliads and have black larvae.

Dendrobates fantasticus
 
is the giant of the group. The orange head is characteristic. Legs can have a white of a bluish pattern. These frogs are kept in captivity with some success. They are not as shy as other species in this group. This species too lives above the forest floor, in the foliage.

Dendrobates reticulatus

is small again. Its does live on the forest floor and can occasionally be found in large numbers together. It lives in the leaf litter, but in captivity it tends to seek shelter higher up in the vivarium, if possible in bromeliads. This frog too has been successfully bred in captivity and captive breeds should be obtainable. Remember, they do not grow much larger than those 16 mm.

Dendrobates sirensis

was only temporarily placed in this group.
It is only known from a few specimens.
They are fast and jumpy, probably living
in tree crowns.

Dendrobates ventrimaculatus

is still a compound species. From near Mishahuali, Ecuador I know two rather different forms (I have painted both).
The French Guyana frogs will probably differ from these two forms again. If you have a frog like this and you don't know the exact name, call it ventrimaculatus and you'll be safe for the day. Remember well: if you want to breed frogs, you'd better have them recognise each other. So, you could try to mix the orange frogs from Ecuador with the greenish ones from Guyana, stating 'they're both ventrimaculatus' but then you can be quite sure they won't breed and if they do, the result will be hybrids. The bottom line of taxonomic is: if you want to breed, be sure the frogs are from the same species, and the same form and about the same origin. If they don't, they might be two different species after a next publication.

Of course, this is not all my own knowledge.
It is the result of reading a lot of articles, which I will not mention here because of the space it takes. Ask the literature list by
e-mail: info@vivaria.nl