The skin of the frog's back can come in any of several background colors, such as yellow, red, blue, gray, or green.

Most individuals have black or dark brown reticulated patterns on their backs and the upper sides of all four legs.

[3][1] This frog inhabits humid tropical lowland and montane rainforests, where it has been observed between 4 and 912 meters above sea level.

[3] After the eggs hatch, the female frog carries each tadpole on her back to a vegetation-bound water pools in bromeliads to develop.

As the generic name Oophaga indicates, this and related species also practice a particular form of oophagy, where the mother deposits special nutritive eggs for the larvae to consume.

[3] A male frog's stomach contents consist mostly of insects and other arthropods, including ants and mites that produce alkaloids.

Specifically, scientists found ants from the genera Solenopsis and Tapinoma, which produce pumiliotoxin alkaloids and actinidin.