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Smooth Newt 2
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Smooth or Common Newt - Triturus vulgaris
This is a male smooth newt. You can just about make out the wavy crest and orange belly of this newt. If compared to the other newt photo I’ve posted you can see the difference in colouration between the male and female newts.
Females have a light brown colouration with darker spots or speckles whereas males are a darker brown with black spots. The throat and belly is lighter than the rest of the body, usually creamy in colour. They are around 10-11cm in length and males are smaller than females. During the breeding season males develop a wavy crest which is continuous from head to tail and their bellies go bright orange. The female deposits her eggs individually on aquatic plants, carefully wrapping each egg in a leaf.
They emerge from hibernation in March, breed through to May and adult newts leave the water in July although in my pond they often remain in the water into August. They spend the rest of the summer and winter very close to the pond, hiding in leaf litter, long grass and under stones (or under the shed in our case!). Newts hibernate in late September, between July and September they live terrestrially eating insects. |
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Hi Matt,
I am always impressed by the depth of the information posted with your photographs, well done!
![Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 10 W: 0 N: 15]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/s-n-s.gif){kind=small}
