The neurotoxin is called batrachotoxin and the P. vittatius and P. ligubris are considered non-toxic because they have low concentrations of this alkaloid.

Its poison causes severe pain, followed by tonic-clonic seizures and paralysis if a large enough dose of the toxin is administered.

Captive examples lack the toxin, which suggests they do not manufacture the poison themselves, but instead acquire it from a species of insect or other small invertebrate on which they feed.

[3] P. vittatus is a fairly large poison frog, reaching a length of 3.5 cm in adulthood, with females typically being larger than males.

Unlike the related P. bicolor and P. terribilis, their shoulder blades are usually not visible beneath their skin, giving the frogs the appearance of being overweight.

The frog's color is black, but it may appear to glitter due to chemical pigments in the skin.

These stripes are usually fire orange, but they may also be golden, yellow, or green, and extend from just above the cloaca to the end of the frog's nose.

He may take them to a puddle, a pool of water in a palm leaf, or a water-filled tree hole.