Dendrobates leucomelas Steindachner 1864

Barrio-Amorós, César L. & Brewer-Carías, Charles, 2010, Venezuelan Guayana, with the description of five new species, Zootaxa 1942, pp. 1-68 : 22

Dendrobates leucomelas Steindachner 1864

Yellow banded poison frog, Sapito minero, Wanadi Jiñamohidi

Camp V, Loc. VI. 22 March 2002. EBRG 4652 (adult female) .

This species is endemic to the Guiana Shield and is widely distributed in the lowlands of southern Venezuela ( Barrio-Amorós and Fuentes 1999). It was included in the Red Book of the Venezuelan Fauna ( Rodríguez and Rojas-Suárez 1995, 1999). Barrio-Amorós and Fuentes (1999) and Barrio-Amorós (2001a,b) commented on the improper inclusion of this species in the Red Book, because it is commonly bred in captivity and wild populations are not at risk. Dendrobates leucomelas is locally abundant at almost all sites that we sampled in southern Venezuela. We saw dozens of these frogs in a few days, in the foothills of Sarisariñama, in the creek close to Canaracuni, and even in the village itself. Males called during the day in forests, especially after rains. One individual was pale yellow; all others observed were bright orange ( Fig. 7 ).

This frog plays an important role in Ye’kwana mythology. It is named “Wanadi Jiñamohidi”. The tale is that Wanadi (the main Yek’wana God) was sitting in front of a canwa (hand-made basket) with several frogs as ornaments. Contemplating a good and proper wife, he transformed one of the frog motifs into a live frog in order to make it his wife. She was his fourth wife for a while, until Wanadi rejected her because she spent most of her time painting herself ( Civrieux 1991; Barrio-Amorós, unpubl. data). Another version (from Padamo, upper Orinoco) is that Wanadi was looking for a proper wife among all animals, and he loved a brown frog, but she escaped and hid between the leaves of the forest. This happened at least three times, until Wanadi painted the frog with bright yellow and black, thereby precluding her from concealing herself.

Dendrobates leucomelas also is an important motif in Yek’wana handicrafts ( Fig. 8 ). Apart from this

Figures

FIGURE 7. Two individuals of Dendrobates leucomelas, photographed near Canaracuni (Camp V).

FIGURE 8. Representation of Wanadi Jiñamojidi (= Dendrobates leucomelas) on a Yek’wana basket (= canwa). From the personal collection of C. Brewer-Carias.