Alpine Newt (Triturus Alpestris)

2023 Author: Molly Page | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 22:49

Alpine newt (Triturus alpestris) is renowned for its beauty and amazing coloration. During the breeding period, males develop a small ridge consisting of successive yellow and black stripes. Inhabits forests and mountains up to the alpine belt (up to 2700 m.). Can live in different waters. Adults, like predator larvae, eat insects and small invertebrates. Active in the dark.

Area

Poland (foothills of the Carpathians), Denmark, Belgium, Holland, Greece, Italy, Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine, Yugoslavia.

Alpine newt, male

Appearance

Alpine newt is famous for its beauty and amazing colors. The skin is smooth (in water) and grainy (on land). During the breeding period, males develop a small ridge (1-2 mm), consisting of successive yellow and black stripes. The tail of the male is bluish-gray in the upper part, olive-gray in the lower part, and blue spots are scattered on its rim. Females are less brightly colored than males, they do not have a dorsal ridge.

Color

The dorsum of the newt varies from gray-brown (females) to marbled blue (males). A series of irregularly shaped dark blue spots runs along the sides. There are spots on the cheeks and limbs. The lower part of the body (belly and throat) is yellow-orange (in females) to blood-red-orange (in males).

The size

Males grow up to 7.5-9 cm, females - 10-13 cm.

Article on the topic The content of the alpine newt (Triturus alpestris)

Life span

In captivity, life expectancy is up to 20 years.

Vote

Disturbed alpine newt makes short single sounds. Able to produce these sounds with open and closed mouth, in air and under water.

Habitat

The Alpine newt lives mainly in forests (shady and damp places) and in the mountains up to the alpine belt (up to 2700 m.). In the water phase, it lives in lakes, water bodies, streams and swamps. It can live in different water: stagnant, dirty and frozen.

Alpine newt, female

Nutrition / food

The diet is very varied. Adults, like predator larvae, eat insects and small invertebrates. On land, the Alpine newt hunts for earthworms, slugs, spiders, flies, crickets, snails, wood lice. In the water, it eats daphnia, larvae of tartar mosquitoes and biting mosquitoes, larvae of caddis flies, molluscs, shell crustaceans, stonefly larvae, etc.

Behavior

The Alpine newt is active at dusk and at night. Prefers shade, does not like direct sunlight. It enters the water bodies depending on the height (March, April, early May). Leaves the reservoir in July-August. Winters on land (October-March), in the forest floor, under stones and fallen tree trunks. In mountainous areas, the period of activity is shorter.

Reproduction

Mating and spawning occurs in water (stagnant or weak-flowing bodies of water). Newts are not demanding on water quality, so they can breed in polluted ditches. During the breeding season, males dress in mating attire. One female can lay 30-450 gray eggs (diameter 1.4-1.7 mm). Caviar is deposited separately or in small portions (3-5 pieces each) on the leaves of aquatic plants.

Breeding season / period:

The breeding season is in May.

Puberty

Ripening in newts occurs at the age of 2-3 years.

Incubation

Egg incubation lasts 16-20 days.

Development

Newborn larvae reach 5-7 mm in length and are grayish in color. Metamorphosis ends at a length of 3-8 cm (depending on the duration of larval development). After metamorphosis, young newts leave the reservoir, and cases of partial neoteny occur. High in the mountains, the larvae remain to winter in the water. The larvae have external gills, the caudal fin is massive, speckled, the iris is not golden. The larvae feed on a variety of mollusks, daphnia, aquatic insects, and the larvae of the Carpathian newt.

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Population / conservation status

Alpine newt is listed in the Red Data Books: Russia and Ukraine. Mentioned in the Berne Agreement (Appendix III). Rare in Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. In some water bodies, the population density reaches one specimen per 0.5 m ², but the usual density is one specimen per 20-50 m ².

This is interesting: the glands of the alpine newt secrete a secret that, when it gets on the mucous membranes, causes a burning sensation.