PATRIOT-NEWS (Harrisburg, Pensylvania) 10 September 06 Red efts crawl about after rain

Recent soaking rains have brought to many midstate woodlands a huge emergence of the red eft, one of the more widespread and familiar salamanders in Pennsylvania.

Not that the damp conditions have caused a population boom, or anything that like, but they certainly have brought the red efts that were already on site to the surface. They're crawling on everything, and gatherings of a half-dozen or so are not at all uncommon.

The red eft is the terrestrial, subadult stage of the red-spotted newt, the aquatic salamander found in ponds, lakes, quiet areas of streams and rivers, and wetlands throughout the state.

Unlike many salamander species, the red-spotted newt passes through stages of life. The eggs hatch into the aquatic, tadpole-like larvae, which hide among vegetation for two to three months before leaving the water as the terrestrial red efts. They exist in the eft form for the next year to three years before migrating back into the water as adult red-spotted newts.

That's the general scenario for most populations of the species. However, some coastal populations have been observed to skip the red eft stage. The larvae just grow to maturity, retaining larval characteristics such as their external gills.

Some other populations have been recorded as never undergoing the second metamorphosis from red eft to aquatic adults. They tend to stick close to the edge of standing water, into which they move only for breeding.

And the aquatic adults are not necessarily permanent residents of the water. They will estivate and over-winter on land -- down in the mud -- if something happens to their pond, lake or stream.

They also will leave the water to clean their bodies of aquatic ectoparasites, such as leeches.

Questions:

1. Is the red-spotted newt carnivorous, herbivorous or omnivorous?

2. Which of those three is the red eft?

3. The red-spotted newt is a member of the newt family, one of five families of salamanders found in Pennsylvania, encompassing how many species? A. 11, B. 22 or C. 33.

Answers:

1. Carnivorous. The aquatic adult eats worms, insects, small crustaceans, mollusks and fish egg.

2. Also carnivorous, eating small insects, snails and worms.

3. B. There are 22 species of salamanders in Pennsylvania.
Red efts crawl about after rain

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