Red Eft

The red-spotted newt is a subspecies of the eastern newt, a salamander species formally named Notophthalmus viridescens. The red eft is the juvenile terrestial stage with distinctive black-bordered red spots along each side. It commonly inhabits lakeshore and wooded habitat and can be seen in the forest floor on rainy nights. Its brilliant color is a warning to predator of its poisonous skin. It has been known to survive inside a snake's or toad's stomach for up to half an hour, happily scurrying along after being regurgitated like an unwanted meal. After about 2-3 years, the land-loving returns to the water as it turns into an adult.

Adults are not as colorful, have an olive green back with scattered red spots, yellow belly with small black dots. Adults are about 4 inches long and the tail is keeled (more pronounced in males). They are mostly aquatic and usually found in permanent pools of water but can survive on land when their habitat runs dry.

Eggs are attached singly to submerged vegetation in the spring and hatch in about 3 weeks into larvae that transform into red efts in late summer.


References:
Animal Diversity Web
The Center for Reptile and Amphibian Conservation and Management

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