Now I know this blog is about newts and amphibians but I'd quite like to mention butterflies. I have found a huge number of butterflies close to my home and also a large number of cabbage whites in my garden so I've taken the caterpillars and the eggs off my cabbage and radishes and made a butterfly house!

Also I thought people might be wondering what those annoying yellow and black caterpillars are from. Well I've got the answer! They're cinnabar moth caterpillars and sadly their favourite food is ragwort which is sadly invading our gardens and our beautiful [but slowly disappearing] countryside!


cabbage white                                                cinnabar moth

                             HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED ABOUT BEING ONE OF               

                              NEWT'S NEIGHBOURS?

FROGS:

Despite peoples common beliefs, the common frog spends most of its life on land but between January and March they gather in shallow pools to spawn. When it's quiet you can hear the buzzing-like croak of the males as they pair with the females. Newly hatched tadpoles swarm but as they grow, they grow secretive and hide from fish, newts and dragonfly nymphs.

 

After some thought I have decided to design this character to represent SaveourKentishnewts.

                                                       

On 10.06.13 (10th of June) I went hunting for newts. We found two types of newt- the palmate newt and the common or smooth newt, living together quite happily. We discovered them in places near houses in small streams and culverts. 

The quality of the living conditions were staggering, with large amounts of rubbish and oil rising from the mud!

 They also had some alien-like neighbours in the form of large, grey insect larvae.

More of their neighbours were a huge collection of freshwater shrimp (gammarus) and a large family of back-water boatmen, a threat to young newt larva.


 Despite all the debris, I found a healthy colony of newts with plenty of food and hiding places which was very pleasing. The newt spends most of its time in water and they occasionally rise to the surface to catch a breath of air. Below is a video of a palmate newt taking that ever-so important breath.

Please check 'imaginethegreenearth' for more updates in the near future!

Palmate newt larva

Palmate Newts

The palmate newt is a relatively small species, males reaching only about 8.5 cm and females 9.5 cm the base colour of both sexes is olive-green or brown, and a dark mask-like line runs across the head through the eyes; males and some females have a dark spotting on their backs. Sometimes confused with the smooth newt, the palmate does not have the spotted throat of the smooth newt, but both sexes have yellow or pale-orange bellies that can show some spotting. It lives in ponds, lakes, canals, marshes, forests, pasture, or agricultural land, sometimes in acid pools on upland moorland or coastal areas. 

It spends the breeding season in water, laying 100 to 300 eggs which hatch into larvae in about two to three weeks, and then metamorphose after a further six to 9 weeks. In colder areas, the larvae often overwinter in the water and then metamorphose the next year. Adults hibernate on land under logs and stones between November and March, or more rarely in water. Palmate newt larva in mid-October with British penny for scale they feed on invertebrates, small crustaceans, planktonic animals, daphnia, and frog tadpoles. They are also known to display cannibalistic tendencies and they can live for up to 10 years. 

The male has webbed hind feet and a low, smooth crest along the back that continues into a slightly higher crest on the tail, ending in a thread-like tip during the breeding season of April - May.. Males also have marked dorsolateral ridges, giving them a rather square cross-section. Females grow to 10 cm (4 in) and males to 8.5 cm (3.3 in). During the breeding season, they are active during the day, as well as night, but outside this period, activity is restricted to rainy or humid nights.
The eggs of newts usually take 2 - 3 weeks to transform into larvae. After birth, they naturally take 6 - 9 weeks for transformation. In regions of extreme cold, the larvae dwell inside the water. They also have a feathery gill on the outer portion of the head at birth. Post losing their gills, they move out of water and began to live on the land more though they spend most of their time in the water. They tend to live in fairly shallow water.


Places like the Singleton Environment Centre(link) have newts in their pond but you can also find them in other ponds and freshwater streams that have plenty of water life.

The belly of a palmate newt

The life cycle of a newt.

 

Smooth Newts

During the breeding season, the male is far darker than the female, with a tall, wavy, transparent crest along the spine and tail, with dark spots covering the rest of the body, including the stomach area, which is a far more vivid pink or orange than it is in winter and autumn. The female also develops spots, but not on the stomach area, which is paler than the males, and are generally smaller. The female does not develop crests. Smooth newts have paddle-like tails for increased swimming speeds.

The nominal subspecies, L. v. vulgaris, is found in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Females and non-breeding males are pale brown or olive green, often with two darker stripes on the back. Both sexes have orange bellies, although paler in females, which is covered in rounded black spots. They also have pale throats with conspicuous spots. This helps to distinguish them from palmate newts that have pale unspotted throats, and with which they are often confused. When on land, they have velvety skin. During the breeding season, male smooth newts develop a continuous wavy (rather than jagged) crest that runs from their heads to their tails, and their spotted markings become more apparent. They are also distinguishable from females by their fringed toes.





A well-advanced larval newt, with feathery gills

After two to three weeks (depending on water temperature), the eggs hatch to a larval form – a tadpole. For a few days, the tadpoles live off the food reserves contained within their yolk sacs (left over from the egg stage). After this, they start to eat freshwater plankton, and later insect larvae, molluscs, and similar foods (unlike frog tadpoles, newts are carnivorous throughout their lives).

The newt tadpole look initially like small fish fry, but later become more similar to miniature adults, but with "feathery" external gills emerging from behind the head on either side. As the tadpoles mature, they develop legs (front first), and the growth and use of their lungs is matched by a gradual shrinkage of the gills. Thus, the tadpole gradually shifts from being fully aquatic to possessing a body suitable for a mostly terrestrial existence, a tadpole typically leaving the water after 10 weeks.

Some tadpoles, however, may overwinter in the larval state, only emerging from the water the following year. Smooth newts take around three years to become sexually mature, on average living for six years. Most adult and juvenile newts hibernate over winter in moist, sheltered areas above ground, emerging in the spring.

Conservation Status

All species of newts are protected in Europe. Laws prohibit the killing, destruction, and the selling of newts. While the species is by no means endangered, IUCN lists insufficient data to make an assessment for two of the subspecies.

In the UK, the smooth newt is protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) with respect to sale only. It is therefore illegal to sell individuals of the species, but their destruction or capture is still permitted. They are also listed under Annex III of the Bern Convention. The smooth newt is the only newt native to Ireland, and it is protected there under the Wildlife Acts [1976 and 2000]. It is an offence to capture or kill a newt in Ireland without a licence.

The magnificent male Great Crested Newt.

Great-crested newt

Great crested newts are Britain’s largest newt species. Although now afforded some legal protection in the UK, populations have declined over recent years as a result of the destruction or fragmentation of their habitat.


Scientific name: Triturus cristatus
Common names: Northern crested newt, warty newt.

The great crested newt is widespread throughout northern and central Europe extending east to the Ural Mountains in Russia. The species has a wide distribution in Britain, but is absent from Cornwall, Devon, and parts of Wales and Scotland and is generally uncommon. The British great crested newt population has undergone a very severe decline in the last 50 years.
 
The great-crested newt wraps its small egg in a leaf of a water weed to develop and grow.