Maternal chemical defenses predict offspring defenses in a dendrobatid poison frog.

Within and among populations, alkaloid defenses of the strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) vary spatially, temporally, and with life history stage. Natural variation in defense has been implicated as a critical factor in determining the level of protection afforded against predators and pathogens. Oophaga pumilio tadpoles sequester alkaloids from nutritive eggs and are, thus, entirely dependent on their mothers for their defense.

Maternal Provisioning of Alkaloid Defenses are Present in Obligate but not Facultative Egg Feeding Dendrobatids.

Poison frogs sequester alkaloid defenses from a diet of largely mites and ants. As a result, frogs are defended against certain predators and microbial infections. Frogs in the genus Oophaga exhibit complex maternal care, wherein mothers transport recently hatched tadpoles to nursery pools and return regularly to supply developing tadpoles with unfertilized (nutritive) eggs.