Alternate name: Allegheny Dusky Salamander

Family: Plethodontidae, Lungless Salamanders view all from this family

Description 2 3/4-4 3/8" (7-11.1 cm). Varies greatly in color and pattern. Pale line from eye to angle of jaw. Tail rounded; half of total length. Northern forms; gray, brown, olive, yellow, or orange; have wide, straight-edged, dark-bordered stripe marked with V shapes down back and tail. Southern forms: dark margins of stripe usually wavy, but vary from nearly straight to zigzagged; dark bars cross stripe. Costal grooves, 14.

Breeding Grapelike cluster of 1-2 dozen eggs laid spring to fall, attached by female to moss or rotting logs near water. Female attends nest. Larvae hatch summer to fall at about 5/8" (14 mm); transform in 2-8 months at about 1" (25 mm). Sexually mature in 3-4 years.

Habitat Uplands from 600-6,500' (183-1,981 m). At low elevations, stays close to streams, springs, and seepage areas. At higher elevations, favors cool, moist floors of spruce-fir forests.

Range West of Hudson River in New York to ne. Georgia; also ne. Alabama.

Discussion Entire populations may congregate around springheads and seepages during winter. These sites also provide brooding areas for females and an aquatic habitat for larvae. It is also seen on wet cliff faces. It eats small flies, beetles, mites. Salamanders from areas near the Great Smokes may have reddish cheek patches, mimicking the Appalachian Woodland Salamander.