Amazonian frog has its own ant repellent
Thursday, October 20, 2016 - 09:31
in Biology & Nature
Special chemicals covering the skin of a tiny yellow-striped Amazonian frog provide a protective shield that wards off leaf-cutting ants allowing it to live comfortably among them. "It helps the frog blend in, because it imitates the ants own chemical signals," says André Barros of the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Brazil. He led a study in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. The ants do not give it even a single bite, but will quite aggressively attack all other types of frogs or other animals that cross their path.