THE BIOLOGY OF THE RED-BACKED SALAMANDER (PLETHODON CINEREUS ERYTHRONOTUS GREEN)

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Abstract
In summing up the results of the observations reported above, the writer makes the following statements: 1. The red-backed salamander is found throughout all the eastern United States and Canada. 2. It lives beneath stones and logs, ranging from rather dry to wet places. 3. It is a small salamander, usually about three and one half inches in length. 4. It is almost entirely nocturnal. It is quick of motion and a climber; it cannot live in water. 5. The food consists mostly of live insects, larvæ, worms and spiders. 6. Snakes and frogs are probably its greatest enemies. 7. The protective devices are autotomy and the secreting of a viscous fluid from the tail. 8. The eggs are laid beneath stones in July and early August. One of the parents, usually the female, broods them. The young hatch with three pairs of gills which shrivel in about a day.

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