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Four-Toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) often attend their eggs until hatching, although the value of this behavior is debated. Moreover, several females will often lay their eggs in close proximity to one another, in which case only a few of the females will attend the eggs. One such communal nest site in Virginia contained 868 eggs (Wood 1953).The adaptive significance of joint nesting behavior remains elusive (Harris et al. 1995). Searching for nests and accompanying females in sphagnum wetlands may be one way to increase your chances of finding four-toed salamanders. Al Richmond, a University of Massachusetts herpetologist, found approximately 15 nests and attendant females in Wells, Maine in late June and early July, 1996. The larvae are about 1.2 cm (0.5") long when they hatch after an incubation period of 38-60 days. They then wriggle until they drop into the water or are washed in by rain. The larvae grow to 1.8-2.5 cm (.7-1.0"), metamorphose, and return to land, all during an approximately 6-week period. This is followed by a 2-3 year juvenile period. Diet: The four-toed salamander's diet has been studied little, but the following prey have been noted: ticks, spiders, springtails, midges, ground beetles, rove beetles, fly larvae, parasitic wasps, ants, snails, and true bugs. Interactions with People and Other Animals: Little direct interaction apparently exists between the four-toed salamander and humans. Indirect interaction would include destruction of the salamander's habitat by development, road construction, and timber harvesting in and around boggy wetlands, peatlands, and forested wetlands. The first two would result in permanent destruction, and the last, a temporary change until a forest canopy could be reestablished to provide cooler temperatures on the forest floor. It may be speculated that, unlike other salamanders whose reproduction has been adversely affected by acid precipitation, the four-toed may have some tolerance to this human insult. Given the four-toed's preference for nesting sites in bogs with sphagnum moss-an acidic environment to begin with- acid precipitation is less likely to affect significantly the four-toed's reproductive capabilities. The four-toed does not have any specific natural enemies that seek it out, but would certainly be considered prey by larger predators with which it shares its habitat such as shrews, moles, snakes, and larger salamanders. One of Maine's four-toed records was a half-eaten individual discovered in a pitcher plant. The accidental demise of this individual is interesting, and raises the question of how significant this cause of mortality is. (Barry
N. Burgason, Huber Resources |
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