In captivity frogs are usually fed flightless fruit flies almost exclusively. However I have been giving my frogs ant queens and workers in small numbers for the last year or so. Until now I have never given them an entire colony but decided to see how they would fair against a Pheidole dentata colony.
P dentata is aggressive and quick to dispatch majors to a food source/threat ime. They also tend to swarm prey items and as I was somewhat nervous and watching intently the entire time.
However the frogs showed they are natural predators of ants swiftly dispatching the entire colony, they also rapidly learned that ants represented a food source as well as a threat to them, they also learned to be more cautious of the majors.
I would be interested in seeing if after enough feedings with a large enough variety of ants if my group would produce any sort of toxin. This species is thought to produce epibatidine, an analgesic of some medical interest. But whether or not E tricolor actually produces this compound is contested.
Either way ima feed em lossa ants. Just gave them a bunch of T bicarinatum* and they loved it.
Edited by SuperFrank, July 17 2020 - 1:51 PM.
. But I do think I hear Pheidole fans screaming somewhere....
