The harlequin poison dart frog's toxicity is primarily acquired from what source?

• A. It synthesizes toxins in its skin.
• B. It absorbs toxins from water.
• C. It stores toxins in its muscles and does not secrete them.
• D. It collects poison from the bugs it eats and deposits the poison on its skin.

Answer: (D)

Toxins in poison dart frogs come from what they eat, not from what they produce themselves. The harlequin poison dart frog absorbs alkaloids from the small arthropods in its diet—ants, beetles, mites, and similar prey—and those compounds are then moved into skin glands and secreted onto the skin as a chemical defense. This is why the frog’s toxicity varies with its diet and habitat.

So the idea that fits best is that it collects poison from the bugs it eats and deposits the poison on its skin, rather than making toxins itself, absorbing them from water, or storing them in muscles.