Taxonomic notes: Most records of this species before 1990 refer to Dendrobates ventrimaculatus. Caldwell and Myers (1990) and Martins and Haddad (1990) independently concluded that the name Dendrobates (now Adelphobates) quinquevittatus Steindachner, 1864, had been misapplied in recent literature. It is currently restricted to a species that is neither as variable or widespread as previously thought, and which is known only from the upper Rio Madeira drainage of Rondonia and adjacent (southern) Amazonas, Brazil. In this account we follow the traditional, broader definition of the species.

This species occurs in southern Amazonia, in the Rio Madeira drainage of western Brazil, although it is known definitively only from Rondônia and adjacent Amazonas, and also Iquitos, Peru.

It is abundant.

It lives in the leaf-litter on the forest floor in the tropical rainforest. It lays its eggs out of the water on a leaf, and the tadpoles are carried to the seasonal water sources including bromeliads.

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Forest conversion, fire, logging and mining are threats to this species.

• 3.2 Mining & quarrying
• 7.1.3 Trend Unknown/Unrecorded
• 5.3.5 Motivation Unknown/Unrecorded

Conservation units are present within its range.

Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

• Caldwell, J.P. and Myers, C.W. 1990. A new poison frog from Amazonian Brazil, with further revision of the quinquevittatus group of Dendrobates. American Museum Novitates: 1-23.
• Galatti, U. 1999. Avaliação ecológica rápida da Reserva Biológica Estadual Rio Ouro Preto, Guajará-Mirim, Rondônia. Inventário da herpetofauna da Res. Biol. rio Ouro Preto. Final Reporl. Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento / Plano Agropecuário e Florestal de Rondôdia (PNUD/PLANAFLORO), pp. 11 pp. Rondonia.
• Gascon, C. and Pereira, O.S. 1993. Preliminary checklist of the herpetofauna of the upper rio Urucu, Amazonas. Brazil. Rev. Brasil. Zool.: 179-183.
• Martins, M. and Haddad, C.F.B. 1990. On the identity of Dendrobates quinquevittatus (Anura:Dendrobatidae). Mem. Inst. Butantan: 53-56.
• Moreira, G.R., Gordo, M., Martins, M., Galatti, U. and Oda, W.Y. 1997. Relatório Final da Área Temática Herpetofauna. Macrozoneamento Sócio-Econômico-Ecológico do Estado de Rondônia. Planafloro report, pp. 1-57. Planafloro, Porto Velho.
• Myers, C.W. 1982. Spotted poison frogs: Descriptions of three new Dendrobates from western Amazonia, and resurrection of a lost species from "Chiriqui". American Museum Novitates: 1-23.
• Steindachner, F. 1864. Batrachologische Mittheilungen. Verhandl. K. K. Zool. - Bot. Gesell., Vienna: 239-288.
• Vanzolini, P.E. 1986. Levantamento Herpetológico da Área do estado de Rondônia sob influência da rodovia BR 364. Programa Polonoroeste, Subprograma Ecologia Animal. Relatório de Pesquisa nº1, Ministério de Ciência e Tecnologia/ CNPq, Brasilia.
• Vitt, L.J. and Caldwell, J.P. 1996. Inventário e Ecologia da herpetofauna da Amazônia: Rio Juruá, Porto Walter, Acre, Brasil. Report Proj. NSF Project DEB-9505518 (not published).