Eastern Newt

Description:

The Eastern Newt, also called the Red-spotted Newt, has several different life stages. The adult Eastern Newt can grow over five inches long. It is yellowish-brown or olive colored on top, and yellowish on its belly. It has small black and red spots. It has a larger and wider tail and characteristically slimy skin. Eastern newts have three stages of life: the aquatic larva or tadpole, the red eft or terrestrial juvenile stage, and the aquatic adult. The larva possesses gills and does not leave the pond environment where it was hatched. Larvae are brown-green in color, and shed their gills when they transform into the gloria red eft. The red eft is bright orangish-red in color, with darker red spots outlined in black. An eastern newt can have as many as 21 of these spots. The pattern of these spots differs among the subspecies. During this stage, the eft may travel far, acting as a dispersal stage from one pond to another, ensuring outcrossing in the population. After two or three years, the eft finds a pond and transforms into the aquatic adult. The adult's skin is olive green, but retains the eft's characteristic outlined red spots. Eastern newts have some amount of toxins in their skin, which is brightly colored to act as a warning. Even then, only 2% of larvae make it to the eft stage. Eastern newts eat a variety of foods such as insects, small molluscs and crustaceans, young amphibians, and frog eggs. They also eat worms. Males can be distinguished during the breeding season The breeding season (begins in late Winter and lasts until early Spring) by a swollen cloaca, higher tail fin, and rough, black tubercles on the inner thighs and feet of the rear legs. Males also have wider back legs and a yellowish gland on the posterior portion of the cloaca.

Habitat:

Eastern newts are at home in both coniferous and deciduous forests. They need a moist environment with either a temporary or permanent body of water, and thrive best in a muddy environment. During the eft stage, they may travel far from their original location. Red efts may often be seen in a forest after a rainstorm. Adults prefer a muddy aquatic habitat, but will move to land during a dry spell.