# Panamanian Dendrobatid Research 2013



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Unlike in previous years, I think I'm going to have this be an ongoing thread because unlike in previous years, I have my computer with me to edit photos as I go. So let me get you up to speed with what is going on.

I arrived in Panama three weeks ago to help out with a study abroad course, which took students to a several different areas in Panama (namely, Gamboa, Bocas, Cerro Punta, and David). The goal of the course was to focus on tropical biodiversity and conservation. As of today, the course has ended. I am going to be staying in Panama an additional 4 weeks in Bocas to work on all of the dendrobatids found in Bocas (but probably focusing on pumilio, auratus, lugubris, and talamancae). Without getting into too much dirty details, I'm interested in toxicity, color, and diet in Bocas. I will be working through the Smithsonian on this research as part of my PhD dissertation. Later this summer, in July, I will be going to French Guiana to work on tinctorius (which will get its own thread, but I think after the season finishes).

My research on the Bocas frogs will likely only bring me to 6-7 focal populations, but if given the time, I plan on revisiting a number of them to get photos of the frogs there. While here, I am also participating in a new photography initiative that is affiliated with National Geographic called Meet Your Neighbours (meetyourneighbours.net) which basically takes pictures of subjects on a white background to highlight just the subject. You will notice that a number of the photos I take are on white, and this is the reason why.

Also different with my photography will be how I present the subject. I have, in the past, taken close ups of frogs, for example, that could be used for field guide type shots. I am aiming to do a lot of these shots still, but to also get the in-habitat type shots to tell a bit more of a story about where these animals live.

Without further ado, here are some pictures from the beginning of the trip. I am still taking some time to get through all of the photos and get them up on Flickr, hence why it will be a continual update for this. This first half of my visit is going to be somewhat light on dart frogs, but it will delve quite a bit into them later on. If you want to see higher resolution to the photos (as well as other photos), I would suggest clicking on the Flickr link.


Tungara Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Mating Flies by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Weevil by monarchzman, on Flickr


Anolis apletophallus by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Katydid by monarchzman, on Flickr


Young Boa Constrictor by monarchzman, on Flickr


Megalopyge cf. albicollis by monarchzman, on Flickr


Silverstonia flotator with tadpoles by monarchzman, on Flickr


Gladiator Tree Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Geoffroy's Tamarins by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Jumping Spider by monarchzman, on Flickr


Scarlet-Webbed Tree Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Chiasmocleis panamensis by monarchzman, on Flickr


Milk Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Olive Tree Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Caiman Eye by monarchzman, on Flickr


Orizaba Silkmoth by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Shield Beetle by monarchzman, on Flickr


Oophaga pumilio "Isla Colon" by monarchzman, on Flickr


Phyllobates lugubris with a tadpole by monarchzman, on Flickr


Sphaerodactylus homolepis by monarchzman, on Flickr


Tropical Rainforest by monarchzman, on Flickr


Oophaga pumilio "Isla Colon" by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Jumping Spider by monarchzman, on Flickr


Tropical Milkyway by monarchzman, on Flickr

I will post more photos in a few days as I get them loaded onto Flickr. It might take some time just because over the next few days, I am heading back to Bocas to dive into my research and that transition might take up my free time. We'll see, but keep an eye out for updates!


----------



## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

Amazing photos, and can't wait to hear more about your discoveries.


----------



## notEZbeingGREEN (Sep 17, 2012)

Looking foreword to more pics and updates!


----------



## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Wonderful pics. I would like to be there!


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Alright, here's a quick update. I'm heading back to Bocas later today and will start my research this week. It is slow going getting photos up onto Flickr, so I apologize for the time it's taking and the delay. Here are a few other photos from the trip so far.


Caves of Isla Colon by monarchzman, on Flickr


Solarte Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Loma Partida Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr

Yes, this guy is calling on my table. It didn't take him long to establish territory there and claim it as his own.

Loma Partida Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Loma Partida Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr

And one more invert. If you ever go looking for these frogs, watch out for these guys. Everyone warns you about the bullet ants, but no one says anything about trap-jaws. They're closely related to bullet ants, and I can say from personal experience, pack quite a punch (they have a very painful sting and their jaws are the fastest movement in the animal world, I believe). And they living colonies similar to fire ant colonies, and behave the same (i.e., if you accidentally touch their colony, they all come pouring out to attack you).


Red-Headed Trap-Jaw Ant by monarchzman, on Flickr

I will post another update in a few days!


----------



## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

amazing photos. I would guess by now you've taken a thousand plus pictures. THe time it takes to edit then upload would be very time consuming, especially "on site". Awaiting updates! Especially interested in your FG trip in the future.


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

pdfCrazy said:


> amazing photos. I would guess by now you've taken a thousand plus pictures. THe time it takes to edit then upload would be very time consuming, especially "on site". Awaiting updates! Especially interested in your FG trip in the future.


I think that's the benefit of doing as much photography as I do. When I first started, I would take tons of photos, but now, many photos I take, I know what I want, so I go in trying to catch that photo. As a result, I don't take as many as you would think, so it helps to sift through those photos.

As for editing, I used photoshop before, which works great, but really is time consuming. I have since switched to Lightroom, which is fantastic and really makes editing quick and easy. I will still use photoshop (for example, I think I'm going to make a pum poster after this trip), but most of my editing is Lightroom.


----------



## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Amazing photos! ! Thank you for sharing and keep up the good work!


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Alright, time for another short update, and this is one where I will get on a soap box. So just to give you a sense of where I am in my photos, I shot these about two weeks back. These will be the last of the frog shots for a little bit. After we were in Bocas, we went to Cerro Punta in the cloud forest, so I'll have a lot of photos from that (including a number of orchid shots, I'm sure people here will love).


Nicki Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Nicki Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Bastimentos Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Bastimentos Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Talamancan Rocket Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Leaf Litter Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Bastimentos Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Katydid by monarchzman, on Flickr

Alright, now for the soap box. I have been to a number of these populations through the years since 2007. One of them I have almost always gone to is the Bastimentos Cemetery population. This is a population that was very well studied by researchers. In fact, in one of the years I was working on them, we found a number of frogs that were marked (toes had been clipped). This is somewhat understandable because this population and the Solarte population are probably the easiest to get to of the islands. The other populations require a little more knowledge of where to look and bigger boats.

Bastimentos Cemetery is also one of the most common morphs in the hobby. If you want to start off with pumilio, Bastimentos are often suggested as good beginner pumilio. They're big, active, bold, and colorful. Overall, good frogs to have. I'm afraid that our demand for them may be taking its toll, in addition to other factors affecting the frogs. Since 2007, I have gone to the same locale a number of times, and there have been fewer and fewer frogs. I think that this is in part collection, but also habitat destruction. The understory has been gradually disappearing in this area. This year was the worst I've ever seen it. I went there with about 6 students, and combined, I don't think we found more than 6 frogs after an hour of searching. I will grant that this, also, could be due to the relatively dry weather here, but it is blatantly apparent that the population is in decline.

Given that this population is so iconic, this is shocking and disappointing. As a hobby, if we don't do something, and do something immediately, this population may not be around for much longer. Pumilio can be sustainably harvested, but I think that the ease of access to this population in particular has resulted in decline.

So, if you have Bastimentos frogs, breed them like there's no tomorrow. If you want Bastimentos frogs, *do not*, I repeat, *do not* get anything other than captive bred. Even farm raised, I wouldn't trust. If the frog didn't hatch out in the U.S. or Europe, I would not touch it. I'm afraid, at this rate, this population may disappear quickly.

Alright, that's all for my soap box.


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Alright, sorry for taking so much time for another update. I've gotten into the full swing of research and it's taking more time than I originally anticipated (basically working from 7am to 8pm almost every day). I haven't had as much time for photography as I would have liked, but I'm working on getting more photos. I'm nearing the end of my sampling, so I can spend the remainder of my time here getting a lot of photos of frogs.

I had the opportunity to meet up with Bryan (Baltimore Bryan) who was vacationing in Bocas. He helped me tremendously in going to Popa North, Popa South, and Loma Partida. We got caught in a deluge and he was a real sport about it. Those frog photos will be in the next update. For now, however, I have lots of pictures from Finca Dracula, which is an orchid farm near Boquete, and the cloud forest of the surrounding area. If you at all have an interest in orchids, when you come to Panama, that spot should be on your places to visit. They have over 2200 species of Neotropical orchids. We didn't spend much time there (I think about an hour and a half), but I easily could have spent another couple of hours there.


Resplendant Quetzal by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Orchid by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Orchid by monarchzman, on Flickr


Orchid from Finca Dracula by monarchzman, on Flickr


Orchid from Finca Dracula by monarchzman, on Flickr


Orchid from Finca Dracula by monarchzman, on Flickr


Orchid from Finca Dracula by monarchzman, on Flickr


Orchid from Finca Dracula by monarchzman, on Flickr


Orchid from Finca Dracula by monarchzman, on Flickr


Orchid from Finca Dracula by monarchzman, on Flickr


Oncidium cariniferum from Finca Dracula by monarchzman, on Flickr


Orchid from Finca Dracula by monarchzman, on Flickr


Orchid from Finca Dracula by monarchzman, on Flickr


Cascadas of Boquete by monarchzman, on Flickr


Mushrooms of the Clouds by monarchzman, on Flickr


Cascadas of Boquete by monarchzman, on Flickr


Cascadas of Boquete by monarchzman, on Flickr


Cascadas of Boquete by monarchzman, on Flickr


Bromeliads of the Clouds by monarchzman, on Flickr


Vistas of Los Quetzales by monarchzman, on Flickr


Vistas of Los Quetzales by monarchzman, on Flickr


Vistas of Los Quetzales by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Dung Beetle by monarchzman, on Flickr


IMG_8206.jpg by monarchzman, on Flickr

And now into some Bocas photos. This was an ominous sign. Leafcutter Ant alates (winged females) are said to be a signal of the beginning of the rainy season. One of the first days I was here, I opened up my door in the morning after a strong storm the previous night and found dozens of these guys out in front of my room. They're as true a sign as I can think because it has rained just about every day since.


Unknown Leaf Cutter Ant Alate by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Tarantula by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Fiddler Crab by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Flower by monarchzman, on Flickr

And that's all for now. Barring horrible weather, I'm going to go to Escudo on monday and spend the night there. Hopefully I can get lots of frogs and eyelash vipers to get photos of (supposedly one of the denser populations of vipers). Unless I have absolutely horrible luck, I plan on getting some photos of the area as well. I'll probably have many photos by the end of it.

Frog photos are coming in the next update, I promise!


----------



## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

Gorgeous pics! I think the last flower is a ginger.


----------



## easternversant (Sep 4, 2012)

Did you happen to smell the orchid that smells like cream soda at Finca Dracula? Very astonishing, and awesome.


----------



## RichardA (Jul 15, 2009)

Tarantula appears to be a Goliath Bird Eater. Theraphosa blondi

Great images! Hope to do some field work like this myself someday soon. 

Thanks for sharing!


----------



## fishman9809 (Dec 8, 2008)

Awesome pictures! I believe the first unknown orchid is some Stelis but I could be wrong. Never seen one with that much nectar on it


----------



## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

RichardA said:


> Tarantula appears to be a Goliath Bird Eater. Theraphosa blondi
> 
> Great images! Hope to do some field work like this myself someday soon.
> 
> Thanks for sharing!


I could be wrong here, but I don't think _T. blondi_ is found in Panama?

Great pictures!


----------



## RichardA (Jul 15, 2009)

Could be found in all kinds of areas with the trade being the way it is. They are South American so it is very likely it is a T. blondi or a close relative.


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

easternversant said:


> Did you happen to smell the orchid that smells like cream soda at Finca Dracula? Very astonishing, and awesome.


No! No one told me about that! Ah, well, I guess another reason to go back.



fishman9809 said:


> Awesome pictures! I believe the first unknown orchid is some Stelis but I could be wrong. Never seen one with that much nectar on it.


Someone else suggested a Stelis species as well. I'm guessing, however, what you're seeing is water (cloud forest and all) rather than nectar.



RichardA said:


> Tarantula appears to be a Goliath Bird Eater. Theraphosa blondi
> 
> Great images! Hope to do some field work like this myself someday soon.
> 
> Thanks for sharing!


I was thinking bird eater as well, but I thought they were South American. You're right that with trade and all, it's possible, but I found it on Pastores which is not really a major trading hub, so I don't know...


----------



## fishman9809 (Dec 8, 2008)

MonarchzMan said:


> Someone else suggested a Stelis species as well. I'm guessing, however, what you're seeing is water (cloud forest and all) rather than nectar.


Ah yes! That would explain it. The way the colors shine through the water reminded me of nectar. A beautiful set of flowers nonetheless.


----------



## markpulawski (Nov 19, 2004)

Depressing news about the Cemetary Basti's, though I do know that dart frogs that seems to be everywhere in the rainy season can seem nonexistent in the dry season. The Expedition that found true Siplawini went to legally collect some Azureus for NAIB, they couldn't find any, then suddenly it started raining and they said they seemed to appear from nowhere and were all over the place, let's hope this is the case on Bastimentos.


----------



## Dendroguy (Dec 4, 2010)

RichardA said:


> Could be found in all kinds of areas with the trade being the way it is. They are South American so it is very likely it is a T. blondi or a close relative.


From someone who has red tarantulas for 5 years, I very highly doubt that this is T. blondi. Not even close if you take the habitat and structure. It looks very much like Sericopelma rubsonitens, the Panama Red-Rump tarantula.

D


----------



## pumiliochaser (Apr 4, 2009)

MonarchzMan said:


> Given that this population is so iconic, this is shocking and disappointing. As a hobby, if we don't do something, and do something immediately, this population may not be around for much longer. Pumilio can be sustainably harvested, but I think that the ease of access to this population in particular has resulted in decline.


Hi JP,

This is sad news...I wonder if you have any thoughts on how a conservation plan could be implemented for the conservation of this morph and other unique island populations of pumilio. From my limited field observations, it seems like these frogs live at high densities even in disturbed forest sites. I would imagine even a small reserve of a few acres could protect a viable population of these frogs, assuming this population was stewarded and watched over. When I first visited Isla Bastimentos, twenty years ago, the pumilio populations were very robust but even back then there was some troubling trends with declines in auratus populations due to over harvesting. In fact, I have never seen an auratus on Bastimentos but talking to some locals many years ago, it seems like it was historically found there. Anyways, keep up the great work. Thanks for sharing your field observations and taking a stand on this issue.


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

pumiliochaser said:


> Hi JP,
> 
> This is sad news...I wonder if you have any thoughts on how a conservation plan could be implemented for the conservation of this morph and other unique island populations of pumilio. From my limited field observations, it seems like these frogs live at high densities even in disturbed forest sites. I would imagine even a small reserve of a few acres could protect a viable population of these frogs, assuming this population was stewarded and watched over. When I first visited Isla Bastimentos, twenty years ago, the pumilio populations were very robust but even back then there was some troubling trends with declines in auratus populations due to over harvesting. In fact, I have never seen an auratus on Bastimentos but talking to some locals many years ago, it seems like it was historically found there. Anyways, keep up the great work. Thanks for sharing your field observations and taking a stand on this issue.


Interesting note on auratus. I didn't think that they occurred there. In fact, I thought that they were basically restricted to the mainland.

As for a conservation plan, pumilio is an incredibly resilient species to disturbance. While the habitat I observed is not ideal, it could still support a viable population of frogs. I did learn too (and will visit) that Bryan visited a nearby site that seemed to have a good number of frogs. I also plan on visiting the Cemetery population again to see if it was just that day or what.

But, even so, if someone had the money and time to set up reserves on the different islands to protect pumilio populations, that would be an excellent step. The problem is the money and the time, and that's not realistically a plan that would happen immediately. I truly think that the best option is to stop creating such a demand for WC frogs and start breeding the ones we have. Like I said, pumilio can withstand some harvest, but unfortunately, it would see as though harvesters tend to target the same areas year after year, and obviously populations decline.

It is a tough question, to be sure. I mean, maybe the best option for buying WC frogs is to buy a particular morph in a particular year, and then not buy WC of that morph for at least four years, and get into a rotation like that. If importers only collected these areas every 4 years, I highly doubt that the pumilio populations would decline due to collection. But that, also, would require a great deal of coordinated effort for the whole hobby, which is easier said than done, if not impossible.

So yea, that'd be my suggestion. Deal with CB. Like I said before, I really would stray away from farm raised because there is little proof that those are being sustainably done (for pumilio, anyway). And, if someone here wins the lottery or falls into a multimillion dollar idea (and doesn't need all of that money), buy up land and make some reserved.


----------



## Baltimore Bryan (Sep 6, 2006)

MonarchzMan said:


> But, even so, if someone had the money and time to set up reserves on the different islands to protect pumilio populations, that would be an excellent step. The problem is the money and the time, and that's not realistically a plan that would happen immediately.


The land adjacent to where I saw the bastimentos also had frogs on it and I saw signs for 12 undeveloped lots for sale at $38,000 each. Great ocean view if anyone is looking for a vacation home/ pumilio reserve! 
Bryan


----------



## stu&shaz (Nov 19, 2009)

JP,I could just click a thanks button,but would rather say thanks this way,it seems to mean more to me,at least. I truely hope that the lack of cem bastis was just a bad day and not much more.

It would be beyond sad to not have cem bastis in that cemetery,in the wild. As you say somewhat iconic and very very special.
thanks for sharing/posting and I hope you can find many more next time.

JP,I hope you don't mind but I've posted links to this thread over here in the UK on a couple of our forums,I think it's important folks are aware of such things

Kind regards 

Stu


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

No worries. I post these for all to see. I think that it's important for pumilio lovers out there to know what's going on with the populations. I think collecting is having a tangible impact and we have the opportunity to affect that for the better or the worse.


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

When I last left you, I was just starting my research in Bocas (in photos, anyway, I'm basically two weeks behind on updates here). I am winding down my collection and am getting ready to head back to the states, where I will be for 4 days before turning around and going to French Guiana to work on tinctorius.

I just did a trip to Escudo, and I'll have more details on that trip in the next update (I'm currently editing a lot of photos from there). But in the meantime, here are some photos of spots I've hit thus far. Lots of frogs this time around.


Heliconius cf. hecale by monarchzman, on Flickr


Central American Bullfrog by monarchzman, on Flickr

Many people had asked about how I was getting the white background on my photos, and if they were photoshopped or what. They frogs are put on a white background, which is backlit. This is my field studio to do that:

Field Studio by monarchzman, on Flickr


Northern Isla Popa Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


South Popa Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Striped Basilisk by monarchzman, on Flickr


Almirante Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Green and Black Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Almirante Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


San Cristobal Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


San Cristobal Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Esperanza Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Dolphin Bay Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Incredibly Fat Green and Black Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Silverstonia flotator by monarchzman, on Flickr


Rio Uyama Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Rio Uyama Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


----------



## cbreon (Apr 25, 2005)

Thanks for sharing all these JP. I can't help but notice the South Popa's similarities to Colon. I bet that if you didn't id it as such everyone would have assumed Colon. Great pics, thanks again!


----------



## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

Looking good JP. It's only been 6 months and now you have me itching to get back to bocas. Have fun in FG!


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

cbreon said:


> Thanks for sharing all these JP. I can't help but notice the South Popa's similarities to Colon. I bet that if you didn't id it as such everyone would have assumed Colon. Great pics, thanks again!


Yea, that is a really interesting population. I've seen spotless ones that are reminiscent of Cayo de Agua.

I know what you mean, Ray. It's been 3 years since I got back to Bocas and I don't think I'm spending enough time here. My tenure here has gone by way too fast!


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Alright, time for another update (and spoiler, this has a lot of photos, but also a lot of text). The Escudo update! I think after this, I'll probably have one more for this thread. I have finished my collection and am now in Panama City until tomorrow (fly out in the morning). I have a few days in Mississippi and then I turn around to go to French Guiana to find tinctorius. Unfortunately, I won't be looking at as many populations of tincs as I did for pumilio, but I'll have a few, anyway. I'm told they're difficult to find, which will be rough coming from pumilio...

But I digress. Before I get to Escudo, I did get to see a couple of other populations before those, namely the Dolphin Bay population and the Bastimentos population that Bryan went to. I showed one picture of the Dolphin Bay frogs, but I have some more. As for the Bastimentos population, I'm happy to see that there are other areas where there are frogs, but they still are at lower density than I'd like to see. They are easy to find, but at the same time, that also means importers could easily collect away the population. As far as the Cemetery population, I met some researchers who work with Justin Yeager at Tulane and they were working on the population. They said that it's the worst they've seen it. They still got a decent amount of frogs (90 for three people searching for one day), but hardly a dense population. So I still remain concerned about that population.


Dolphin Bay Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Dolphin Bay Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Dolphin Bay Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Bastimentos Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Bastimentos Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Bastimentos Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Bastimentos Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr

I had the opportunity to go to Escudo again to see the pumilio there (sorry to those who think they're separate, I'm calling them pumilio until I see comprehensive evidence supporting separation). When I first visited Escudo in 2009, we got there and had about an hour before it just poured. I was obviously concerned that the same would happen this time around, so I decided to camp out on the island for a night, figuring that I would likely be able to get at least a couple hours of dry weather in that time. I couldn't have asked for better weather. It was sunny and nice the whole time I was there. It sprinkled a little bit at night, but that was nice. In retrospect, I wish I had spent a couple days, but I didn't hit all of my goals for the trip so I have reason enough to visit again and maybe spend 3-4 days there.

For those who don't know, Escudo de Veraguas is a Protected Area (not sure what the legal implication of this is; it's not a park which would grant greatest protection) that is seasonally used by fishermen from Chiriqui Grande and Cusapin. Those people will come and live on the island until they get their fill from the waters, and then go back to the mainland to sell their catch. Last time I came, we basically had the island to ourselves, but this time there were a number of people there. The fishermen brought their families, so there were a number of women and children on the island. That in and of itself isn't a big problem (aside from making me even more paranoid about my expensive camera equipment), but I was very disappointed to see that they also brought dogs, chickens, and pigs and released them on the island. Fortunately, I didn't see many of any of them, so (at least for the pigs and chickens), I'm hoping they kill them for food rather than let them take over the island. Pigs on that small island could have dramatic effect on the ecology (particularly the frogs, since they forage in the leaf litter).

As for the frogs, I am very intrigued by this population now that I got a chance to go see them in the forest and get some time to observe them. First off, they're far more terrestrial than I thought. I don't think that I found a single frog more than 6 inches off of the ground. This surprised me since most of the other morphs seem to be at least partially arboreal (with some, like Colon, almost always being vertical). Second, they're quiet! I was worried because it had been relatively dry when we were there, so I thought these little things would be hiding, making it very difficult for me to get the frogs that I needed for my work. We got to an area where I heard a couple frogs calling (after spending several hours there, I think I could count the number of calling males on both hands and probably have fingers free). This originally freaked me out, but after searching the area, I was pleasantly surprised that there were a lot of frogs (pretty decent density of them, actually). I found this really strange to have so many frogs in the area, but not have them calling. You go anywhere else in the archipelago, and if there are frogs, the males are going all the time. Not so here.

Now, I mentioned some goals for this trip. For my research, I particularly wanted to get the Phyllobates lugubris there since they look so different than the other lugubris. If the pumilio are separate, I'd bet the lugubris are too, but I don't think anyone has looked at them. Supposedly Escudo has one of the highest densities of Eyelash Vipers through their range. I was hoping to find a number of them (just found one, which is definitely better than none). It is also the home of the endemic hummingbird (these were quite common) and pygmy sloth (unfortunately, didn't see one). I also had heard that Bolitoglossine salamanders are pretty common there, but didn't see any. And the waters around the island are crystal clear, and even though I brought snorkeling equipment, I didn't have time to jump in. Finally, the diversity of amphibians is pretty low there, but it is home to a few. I did end up finding a Craugastor ranoides, which I think is the find of the trip because it's a critically endangered amphibian (I didn't know this at the time, and in retrospect, I really wish I spent more time photographing it). So I'd like to go back and find that species again.

So, long story short, lots of reasons to go back. It was an incredible trip, and I definitely like the island. Alright, enough talk, now to the pictures:


Eyelash Pit Viper by monarchzman, on Flickr


Craugastor polyptychus by monarchzman, on Flickr


Phyllobates lugubris by monarchzman, on Flickr


Escudo de Veraguas Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Escudo de Veraguas Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Escudo de Veraguas Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


White-Lipped Mud Turtle by monarchzman, on Flickr


Craugastor ranoides by monarchzman, on Flickr


Vaillant's Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Hermit Crab by monarchzman, on Flickr


Escudo de Veraguas Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Anole by monarchzman, on Flickr


Unknown Ghost Crab by monarchzman, on Flickr


Phyllobates lugubris by monarchzman, on Flickr


Escudo de Veraguas Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Escudo de Veraguas Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Eyelash Pit Viper by monarchzman, on Flickr


Eyelash Pit Viper by monarchzman, on Flickr


Eyelash Pit Viper by monarchzman, on Flickr


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

I think this will likely be the next to last update for this research. I still have a few photos to upload onto Flickr, and then that'll be it for Panama. I don't know when that update will happen as I'm currently en route to French Guiana. Supposedly we'll have internet, so I'll be able to do updates from there as well.

I have a few more scenery photos of Escudo (because it is such a beautiful place) before moving on.


Fishing Families by monarchzman, on Flickr


Escudo de Veraguas by monarchzman, on Flickr


Escudo de Veraguas by monarchzman, on Flickr

On the way back from Escudo, I wanted to hit the Valiente Peninsula which has frogs that appear similar to Escudo. I know the Europeans are wanting to split Escudo off as a separate species (I am personally doubtful), but they didn't look at populations on the Valiente Peninsula (as far as I know), which is a big oversight IMO given that the populations look very similar to Escudo (if a little darker).


Valiente Peninsula Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Valiente Peninsula Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr

I also found a rather interesting (little different) flotator there.


Silverstonia flotator by monarchzman, on Flickr

At this point in the trip, I was basically wrapping up collection, so I was hitting populations I needed to get once more. Among them were Isla Popa where I mostly focused on the non-pumilio there (that didn't stop me from taking shots of them, though).


Southern Isla Popa Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Southern Isla Popa Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Helmeted Iguana by monarchzman, on Flickr


Andinobates claudiae by monarchzman, on Flickr


Phyllobates lugubris by monarchzman, on Flickr


Phyllobates lugubris by monarchzman, on Flickr


Phyllobates lugubris with tadpoles by monarchzman, on Flickr


Silverstoneia flotator by monarchzman, on Flickr

I had to hit several populations on my way back to the Smithsonian for the day, and I decided to meet up with one of my contacts down there and see a really cool Bastimentos (you heard right, not Solarte), population:


Tranquilo Bay Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr


Tranquilo Bay Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr

While there, I found a Brown Vine Snake (Oxybelis aeneus) which are always fun to photograph.


Brown Vine Snake by monarchzman, on Flickr


Brown Vine Snake by monarchzman, on Flickr

And then I quickly stopped at Solarte before heading back to the Smithsonian for the day:


Solarte Strawberry Poison Frog by monarchzman, on Flickr

And that's it for this update. One of my goals of this trip was to do a lot of white shots so that I could make a poster of the pumilio morphs. It's hard to understand the great variety and contrasts when you have them on complex backgrounds. When you put them on the same background, it's easier to notice similarities and differences. If you haven't seen it yet, I've made the poster and am offering it for sale:

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/other-classifieds/110866-o-pumilio-collage-poster-31-up.html

Thanks for looking. Watch for one more update, then keep an eye out for a tinctorius research thread!


----------



## srrrio (May 12, 2007)

Just a little bump, especially post #9. 

Although I see JP, a lot of your amazing photographs are not showing up!


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Ah, yea, thanks for pointing that out. I think that as I updated photos in Lightroom, which then updated in Flickr, some things changed which broke the links. Internet in French Guiana is a little sketchy, so I don't think that I'll be able to fix them at the moment (I will do so when I return, which will be after the 16th). I will try to do the final update in the next few days if I can get internet to cooperate (in the final leg of research in FG, so I'm focusing on that).


----------



## srrrio (May 12, 2007)

Excuses, excuses  Safe journey home...

Now back to post #9 !


----------

