© Christopher J. Leary

     Mature newts are aquatic with yellowish brown, olive-green, or dark greenish brown skin with a dorsal pattern of small red dots encircled by black.  The belly and vent are yellow with small black flecks.  A thin dark line runs along both sides of the head from the snout through the eye to the neck.  Total length ranges from 5.7 - 14 cm (2.25 - 5.5 in).  During the breeding season, males show higher and more broadly keeled tail fins than females and exhibit enlarged hindlegs with outgrowths of black ridges on the inside of the thighs as well as black toe tips.  The breeding season lasts from March through June.  Females lay 200-300 eggs singly on leaves of submerged vegetation.  After 3-8 weeks, larvae emerge with a yellowish-brown green color.  In late summer or early fall, larvae metamorphose into the eft stage or transform directly into adults, skipping the eft stage.

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