The Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) is a Lungless Salamander native to eastern North America. It is a monotypic species of the Hemidactylium genus. (In Francophone Canada, it is called the salamandre à quatre orteils.) The Four-toed Salamander can be recognized by its white underbelly sprinkled with black dots. Its back varies from orange-brownish to red-brownish; its flanks are grayish. The body and the limbs are elongated, the snout is short and the eyes are prominent. The tail color is usually brighter than the back, you can observe a constriction at the body/tail junction.
Ten Facts about Four-toed Salamander
- Adults are 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) long.
- They found only where boggy ponds or spring fed creeks are available in or near damp wooded habitat.
- They eat insects and insect larvae, spiders, worms, and other small invertebrates.
- Larvaes are eaten by other salamanders (adults and larvaes), fishes and aquatic beetles.
- Four-toed salamanders are found from Maine down to Alabama, and over to Wisconsin.
- The eggs will hatch in about 7 weeks.
- Take 2 1/2 years to be fully mature adults.
- There are three methods of nesting- Solitary, Communal & Oophagy.
- The female lays her eggs in spring, in a clump of moss, leaf litter, or rotting wood overhanging a pond, creek, or seepage.
- She usually attends the eggs during the month or two of incubation.
