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Painted Antnest Frog - frontal, Sani Lodge, Ecuador The frog is named after the peculiar behavior where they nest directly inside the massive nests of leafcutter ants..and somehow get away with it unharmed. The dominant theory for now is that they emit a chemical that signals the ants not to attack. However it works, it provides an ultra safe nesting site as nobody messes with leafcutters, they are the largest animal society on the planet, after humans.<br />
<br />
It would still spent most of his life outside the nest where it deploys another tactic: it mimics a particular poison frog, thereby making predation not attractive.<br />
<figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/130618/painted_antnest_frog_-_top_view_sani_lodge_ecuador.html" title="Painted Antnest Frog - top view, Sani Lodge, Ecuador"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/130618_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=%2BfQzFQ9lm2kz%2FulMGXHPppCwkX0%3D" width="152" height="152" alt="Painted Antnest Frog - top view, Sani Lodge, Ecuador The frog is named after the peculiar behavior where they nest directly inside the massive nests of leafcutter ants..and somehow get away with it unharmed. The dominant theory for now is that they emit a chemical that signals the ants not to attack. However it works, it provides an ultra safe nesting site as nobody messes with leafcutters, they are the largest animal society on the planet, after humans.<br />
<br />
It would still spent most of his life outside the nest where it deploys another tactic: it mimics a particular poison frog, thereby making predation not attractive.<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/130617/painted_antnest_frog_sani_lodge_ecuador.html<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/130616/painted_antnest_frog_-_frontal_sani_lodge_ecuador.html Ecuador,Ecuador 2021,Geotagged,Lithodytes lineatus,Painted Antnest Frog,Sani Lodge,South America,Spring,World,Yasuni National Park" /></a></figure><br />
<figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/130617/painted_antnest_frog_sani_lodge_ecuador.html" title="Painted Antnest Frog, Sani Lodge, Ecuador"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/130617_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=2zYRsTvnnr1nhkIbZb7RWAksSqo%3D" width="200" height="164" alt="Painted Antnest Frog, Sani Lodge, Ecuador The frog is named after the peculiar behavior where they nest directly inside the massive nests of leafcutter ants..and somehow get away with it unharmed. The dominant theory for now is that they emit a chemical that signals the ants not to attack. However it works, it provides an ultra safe nesting site as nobody messes with leafcutters, they are the largest animal society on the planet, after humans.<br />
<br />
It would still spent most of his life outside the nest where it deploys another tactic: it mimics a particular poison frog, thereby making predation not attractive.<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/130618/painted_antnest_frog_-_top_view_sani_lodge_ecuador.html<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/130616/painted_antnest_frog_-_frontal_sani_lodge_ecuador.html Ecuador,Ecuador 2021,Geotagged,Lithodytes,Lithodytes lineatus,Sani Lodge,South America,Spring,World,Yasuni National Park" /></a></figure> Ecuador,Ecuador 2021,Geotagged,Lithodytes lineatus,Painted Antnest Frog,Sani Lodge,South America,Spring,World,Yasuni National Park Click/tap to enlarge PromotedSpecies introCountry intro

Painted Antnest Frog - frontal, Sani Lodge, Ecuador

The frog is named after the peculiar behavior where they nest directly inside the massive nests of leafcutter ants..and somehow get away with it unharmed. The dominant theory for now is that they emit a chemical that signals the ants not to attack. However it works, it provides an ultra safe nesting site as nobody messes with leafcutters, they are the largest animal society on the planet, after humans.

It would still spent most of his life outside the nest where it deploys another tactic: it mimics a particular poison frog, thereby making predation not attractive.

Painted Antnest Frog - top view, Sani Lodge, Ecuador The frog is named after the peculiar behavior where they nest directly inside the massive nests of leafcutter ants..and somehow get away with it unharmed. The dominant theory for now is that they emit a chemical that signals the ants not to attack. However it works, it provides an ultra safe nesting site as nobody messes with leafcutters, they are the largest animal society on the planet, after humans.<br />
<br />
It would still spent most of his life outside the nest where it deploys another tactic: it mimics a particular poison frog, thereby making predation not attractive.<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/130617/painted_antnest_frog_sani_lodge_ecuador.html<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/130616/painted_antnest_frog_-_frontal_sani_lodge_ecuador.html Ecuador,Ecuador 2021,Geotagged,Lithodytes lineatus,Painted Antnest Frog,Sani Lodge,South America,Spring,World,Yasuni National Park

Painted Antnest Frog, Sani Lodge, Ecuador The frog is named after the peculiar behavior where they nest directly inside the massive nests of leafcutter ants..and somehow get away with it unharmed. The dominant theory for now is that they emit a chemical that signals the ants not to attack. However it works, it provides an ultra safe nesting site as nobody messes with leafcutters, they are the largest animal society on the planet, after humans.<br />
<br />
It would still spent most of his life outside the nest where it deploys another tactic: it mimics a particular poison frog, thereby making predation not attractive.<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/130618/painted_antnest_frog_-_top_view_sani_lodge_ecuador.html<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/130616/painted_antnest_frog_-_frontal_sani_lodge_ecuador.html Ecuador,Ecuador 2021,Geotagged,Lithodytes,Lithodytes lineatus,Sani Lodge,South America,Spring,World,Yasuni National Park

    comments (8)

  1. Completely gorgeous. And, so fascinating that it can live unharmed among the ants! I wonder what the brave frog who first tried it was thinking. It was no doubt insane, as many brilliant minds are. Posted 3 years ago
    1. Yes, I often wonder the same. You see this incredible evolutionary trait but what are the in-between steps, and what do they look like? Like if you have a leaf-mimicking katydid, and it forever to evolve into this, are there stages where the mimic is "in progress"? Halfway? And if so, that would be an unconvincing mimic, leading to predation. And it doesn't lead to predation, I guess the mimic is not that useful to begin with?

      How does this work, Christine? I want an answer on my desk by tomorrow.
      Posted 3 years ago
      1. Sorry, the dog ate my homework. Posted 3 years ago
        1. A reasonable excuse. Accepted. Posted 3 years ago
  2. All in the eyes. Looks very chilled Posted 3 years ago
    1. It was relatively calm indeed. Posted 3 years ago
  3. What a cool frog! Posted 3 years ago
    1. Glad you like it, Lisa. Posted 3 years ago

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"Lithodytes" is a genus of frogs in the family Leptodactylidae. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species, "Lithodytes lineatus", the gold-striped frog or painted antnest frog. It is found in tropical South America where it lives in humid forests among the leaf litter.

Similar species: Frogs
Species identified by Ferdy Christant
View Ferdy Christant's profile

By Ferdy Christant

All rights reserved
Uploaded Feb 28, 2022. Captured Nov 15, 2021 20:16 in 67C6X698+22.
  • NIKON D850
  • f/16.0
  • 1/60s
  • ISO64
  • 105mm