Courtship behavior of Ameerega pulchripecta (Anura: Dendrobatidae) from type locality (Serra do Navio, Amapá state)

Some species display remarkable and stereotyped visual signals used in different social contexts. We present here new observations on courtship behavior and visual signaling of the endemic poison frog Ameerega pulchripecta, an endemic frog only known to occur in the municipality of Serra do Navio, Amapá state, Eastern Amazon. We observed part of the courtship behavior of A. pulchripecta under natural conditions at Cancão Municipal Natural Park, municipality of Serra do Navio, Amapá state, northeastern Brazilian Amazon. The courtship description was based on the observation of one pair of frogs found trough call surveys conducted on the night of 26 April 2018. Courtship began at 18:40h with the approach of a female into male’s territory. In the presence of female, we observe the male performing the call more intense and continually if compared to other conspecific males on the local. The female performed two stereotyped visual signals on the perch: crouching down and upright posture. Subsequently to these movements, the female moved toward the male´s perch and to this moment, the male emitted the courtship call. During this time, the male was the only emitting acoustic signal (courtship call). The recorded male emitted 9 calls composed of three notes and 1 call composed of 2 notes. The courtship behavior observed here did n-ot lead to oviposition, since after the male emits the call the female moved out from the perch and remained undetected to us. The reproductive event lasted about two hours from 18:40h to 20:10h.