First things first: I'm not using the term "bamboo frog" in any sort of technical way. Herpetologists—scientists who study the creepy-crawlies known as amphibians and reptiles—have occasionally, and casually, given the name "bamboo frog" to a species. But there really isn't anything formally recognized as a "bamboo frog."

The frogs that I study in Madagascar, Mantella laevigata, breed in bamboo wells. By bamboo wells, I mean bamboo that has fallen, or broken, or been cut with an axe, revealing a nice cavity into which rain falls, creating a little pool, or well. The Latin name for this is phytotelm. When you've got a lot of bamboo together—which is typical, given their growth pattern—many wells will likely form, and then you've got phytotelmata.

Because of this close association between the frogs and the bamboo in their environment, and because it's a catchy phrase, and because the domain name "bamboofrog.org" was still available, I'm referring to these brightly colored Malagasy amphibians as bamboo frogs. Mantella, as well as several unrelated taxa of brightly colored frogs in other parts of the tropical world, are also poisonous, and are generally known as "poison frogs."

Poison frogs are called rana venonosa in Central America, and grenouille toxique in French-speaking Madagascar. Their skins exude a suite of neurotoxins, which are synthesized from elements of the frogs' diet. Some species, though not those pictured on this site, are so poisonous that adult humans can die simply by touching them.

In northeastern Madagascar, Mantella laevigata is not the only species of frog that breeds in, or sporadically visits, bamboo wells. Indeed, frogs aren't the only animals that use wells. There's a whole community of organisms that rely on these bamboo wells. Some use them for reproduction, others just as a cool, wet place to rest during the hottest part of the day.

Some escape from potential predators in wells—crabs regularly scuttle in to low-lying wells and spend the day. And I even observed one boa of this species (Boa, previously Sanzinia, madagascariensis) attack a female Mantella and hold her in its mouth for 20 minutes, masticating gently. Then, suddenly the snake released her. The frog went on to solicit courtships from males, successfully mate with at least one, and ultimately gave maternal care to her young tadpole. The snake, on the other hand, moved its lair the following day, and I never saw it again.

For the species of frogs that breed in these wells, the predators they contend with are often inside those same wells. Mantella laevigata lays single eggs in these wells. Two other, unrelated species of frogs, Plethodontohyla notostica from the photo above, and Anodonthyla boulengeri, also lay eggs in these wells, and they have larger clutch sizes of 50-100. So in many viable bamboo wells in the rainforests of northeastern Madagascar, there are frog eggs—a great source of nutrition for some hungry beast.

Sure enough, another rainforest animal has found a way to exploit the bounty that exists in these wells. Crane-flies are members of the Diptera, the flies, which also includes blackflies and houseflies and mosquitoes. As adults, crane-flies look rather elegant, with long red legs and gauzy wings. As larvae, however, the crane-flies of northeastern Madagascar (Limonia renaudi Alexander) are nasty little critters. They are slimy, writhing, limbless aquatic things that their mothers lay in the water of bamboo wells, so that they may predate the eggs of frogs. Yes, it's true—frogs are predated by flies in this system.

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