Cryptophyllobates azureiventris

One of my all-time personal favorites is Cryptophyllobates azureiventris, the Sky Blue Poison Dart Frog. The belly and legs on these diminuitive little guys is a beautiful sky blue with black reticulations. The juveniles have orange/yellow dorso-lateral stripes that, if they follow their parents’ coloration, will change to bright lemon yellow as they mature. And, speaking of the parents, the full-size adults are barely 3/4 of an inch long.

From one tiny geographic location in the Andes mountains of Peru, C. azureiventris is the only species in its genus (although it, along with the entire dart frog family is the process of being reclassified), and is one of the rarest dart frogs in the hobby.