Alternate name: Red-spotted Newt
Family: Salamandridae, Newts view all from this family
Description 2 5/8-5 1/2" (6.5-14 cm). Aquatic and terrestrial forms. Aquatic adult yellowish-brown or olive-green to dark brown above, yellow below; back and belly both peppered with small black spots. Land-dwelling eft, called the Red Eft, is orange-red to reddish-brown; varies in size from 1 3/8-3 3/8" (3.5-8.6 cm). Costal grooves, indistinct.
Subspecies Red-spotted (N. v. viridescens), back with series of black-bordered orange-red spots in adult and eft stages; Nova Scotia west to Great Lakes, south to nw. South Carolina, c. Georgia, and Alabama.
Broken-striped (N. v. dorsalis), broken black-bordered red stripe from head to base of tail on either side of midline, eft reddish-brown with back stripes incompletely bordered by black; coastal plain, ne. North Carolina and se. South Carolina.
Central (N. v. louisianensis), back and belly color sharply contrast, red spots usually absent or small and incompletely ringed with black, efts with reduced spotting; sw. Ontario and w. Michigan south to the Gulf, east through s. Alabama, n. Florida, s. Georgia, and s. South Carolina.
Peninsula (N. v. piaropicola), dark olive to dark brown above, red spots absent or small, faint and unringed, belly heavily peppered with fine black spots; peninsular Florida.
Breeding Late winter to early spring. As season approaches, male develops enlarged hind legs, with black, horny structures on inner surfaces of thighs and toe tips, swollen vents, and broadly keeled tails. Female lays 200-400 eggs singly, on submerged vegetation. Incubation period 3-8 weeks. Hatching larvae average 3/8" (8mm). In late summer or early fall they transform to aquatic subadults or efts.
Habitat Ponds and lakes with dense submerged vegetation, quiet stretches or backwaters of streams, swamps, ditches, and neighboring damp woodlands.
Range Nova Scotia to Florida and west in a swath to sw. Ontario and Texas.
Discussion Adult newts are often seen foraging in shallow water. They prey voraciously on worms, insects, small crustaceans and molluscs, amphibian eggs, and larvae. Searching for eggs, they visit the spawning beds of fish. Newts secrete toxic substances through the skin and so are avoided by fish and other predators. Efts can be found on the forest floor after a shower. A hungry one may consume 2,000 springtails.
