| Discovery | Cope, E.D. (1893): Second addition to the knowledge of the batrachia and reptilia of Costa Rica. Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. 31: 333-347. |
| Type locality | 'Buenos Ayres', [=Buenos Aires], Puntarenas, Costa Rica |
| Holotype | |
| Etymology | Phyllobates: phyllos (Gr.)= leave; bates (Gr.)= walker; referring to the climbing behaviour of this genus. vittatus: vitta (L.)= band, stripe; striped, referring to the colour pattern on the back with two orange stripes. |
| Classification | |
| Synonymy | Dutch name: gestreepte pijlgifkikker English name: Golfo dulcean Poison arrow Frog German name: Gestreifte Blattsteiger Dendrobates tinctorius vittatus, Phyllobates tinctorius vittatus |
| History | Cope (1893: 340) described this frog as sub-species of Dendrobates tinctorius: D. vittatus. The classification of the species in the genera in the family Dendrobatidae has been unclear and confusing for many years. Savage (1968) made a first attempt to clarify things. He thought vittatus to be synonym of Phyllobates lugubris. Eventually it was Silverstone (1975, 1976) who clarified the genera. Dendrobates tinctorius vittatus is seen since Silverstone as a species within the genus Phyllobates. Silverstone added P. vittatus to the Phyllobates bicolor-group. After describing the genus Epipedobates (Myers 1987) the genus Phyllobates only exists of the 5 species from the bicolor-group: P. bicolor, P.lugubris, P.vittatus, P.aurotaenia and P. terribilis. |
| Physical description | The skin is slightly granular on the back and upper part of the thighs. The back is deep black, on some specimens it seems a yellow stripe on the middle of the back is present. Yellow, orange or red-orange wide dorsolateral stripes go from thighs along the back, over the eyes and come together on the snout. The flanks are black. A white stripe goes from shoulder to under the eye. The limbs are green with black marbled. The belly and underside of the legs are black marbled with white or pale green. |
| Distribution | P. vittatus lives in the wet forest areas of the Golfo Dulce on the Pacific coast of southern Costa Rica. This species is found between 30 and 70 m elevation. |
| Biotope | One of the best known locations is a valley near Palmar Norte in southern Costa Rica. The animals live here between plant roots and in hollows between rocks, covered with plants or remains of plants. When they are approached they retrieve fast. The hollows are located in the sides of the bed of the creeks. Almost the whole creek and beddings are shady by the surrounding forest. During visits of Mr. Woeltjes he found larvae next to fast running streams in empty tins, left by the locals. The measured temperatures did not correspond with the measurements of Mudde and Van Dijk (1983: 42). The air temperature was almost the same: 25-27° v.s. 23°C, but the water temperature Mr Woeltjes measured was considerably lower: 21.4°C v.s. 24.2°C, this might have been caused due to the fact that it had been raining for several days. |
| Care and breeding | Phyllobates vittatus is an easy to keep and breed species. A couple can be kept in a vivarium of 40 X 40 X 50(h) cm. Make sure a lot of hiding places are present like pieces of wood, rocks, bromeliads, etc and a high humidity. A small water area is required to take the larvae to. Temperatures of ca. 25°C during the day, dropping to 20°C at night. A male and a female does not guarantee a breeding couple, for they are quite picky. When the couple has accepted each other they will breed in high quantities (they can lay up to twice a week). The 10 to 25 eggs are laid in a hollow (e.g. a petri dish under a cocohut) and will be guarded by the male. The eggs hatch after about 18 days. The larvae are brought, on the back of the male, to open water. They can be raised together and complete their metamorphosis in about two months. The froglets feed on small fruit flies and springtails. The adults can be fed with larger insects like small crickets as well. |
| Foto's | 
foto's published here with the kind permission of Erik Poelman 
foto's published here with the kind permission of www.kwekerijrana.nl |
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