Alpine Newt
Identification: Small salamander. Length up to 12 cm. Females larger than males. No grooves over the length of the head. In aquatic stage, the skin is smooth; in terrestrial stage, velvety and coarse. In both sexes, a silvery white band with small black spots occurs over the length of the side of head and body. In males, this band is bordered on the lower side by a light blue stripe from the front- to hind legs. Belly and throat are bright orange, belly unmarked, throat sometimes with spots. In the breeding season, males are bluish grey to bluish black on the back with sometimes an indistinct pattern of black spots. In females, the back is mostly dark brown to brownish green, with dark marbling. Males have a low, smooth-edged crest that is directly continuous with the crest on the tail. The crest has black spots on a yellowish background; on the tail, this becomes faint. In the terrestrial stage, the crest disappears, the animals get darker and the pattern of spots is more difficult to see. Sometimes there is a thin orange stripe visible on the back. The larvae are very dark with dark spots on the crests of the tail. Length of larva up to 6 cm.
Range: Northwest, mid and southern Europe. Introduced to the British Isles, colonies reported from Kent, east Surrey, south-east London, Birmingham, Shropshire, Sunderland and Central Scotland. The Surrey colony has persisted for at least eighty years.
Habitat: Lives mostly in moist, cool habitats in wooded areas and valleys well overgrown with vegetation. Also in gardens and cultivated land. Not selective concerning breeding water, which varies from flooded tyre tracks to large pools and lakes, including quite acid meres. Within its range, most common at altitudes between 500-2000 metres, in Alps up to altitudes of 2300 metres.
Habits: Sometimes found as early as January in breeding water, breeds in April and May. During breeding season, active by day and night, in the terrestrial stage usually only at night. Returns to the same breeding water every year. In June they emerge onto land again. Produces 100 - 250 eggs in the course of the season. These are individually folded between the leaves of aquatic plants using the hind legs. The eggs hatch after 2-4 weeks, depending on the water temperature. Newly hatched larvae are 7-10 mm long and grow up to 5-6 cm. The larvae metamorphose after 3 months; newly metamorphosed salamanders have a length of 3-5 cm. Often they have an orange stripe over the middle of the back. They initially feed on algae and gradually switch to animal matter. The young emerge onto land in September or October. After 2-3 years they mature. In this species, neoteny regularly occurs. Hibernates mostly on land, but sometimes also in water.
How to find: In the breeding season, they can be found in water. In the terrestrial stage, they live beneath stones and logs and also in cellars.