Snakes, raccoons, ducks, and wading birds prey on marbled salamanders. Instead, this handsome black-and-white striped amphibian waits until the fall to skitter to the dried-up pools to lay its eggs. Adult marbled salamanders migrate to seasonal pools to court and mate in early fall rather than in the spring. The marbled salamander breeds from September to October in the northern part of its range and from October to December in the southern part of its range. The animal remains underground during dry weather. Salamander-trackers, like Billy Michael of Bethel, follow in their wake. Female guards the eggs until pool is flooded. Larvae develop within the egg and hatch when the eggs are flooded in the fall. Marbled salamander larvae are carnivorous and feed throughout the winter, under the ice, on zooplankton and available small invertebrates. One vernal pool in Topstone Park in Redding is an almost-sure marbled salamander bet. In the fall it leaves the woods and migrates to a nearby pond, where it mates, and females lay eggs. 2007b). These salamanders construct nests as shallow, dry depressions in pond or stream banks. Larvae take small aquatic animals ( zooplankton ), but larger individuals will take eggs and larvae of other amphibians , as well. The eggs are laid in September or October under logs, moss, leaves, or debris along the margins of a vernal pool and are attended to by the female. Life history: Unlike the other members of this genus found in Ohio, the breeding season for the Marbled Salamander is in the autumn and courtship, breeding, and egg-laying all occur on land. Deciduous and mixed forests adjacent to vernal pools. Adults take terrestrial invertebrates, such as worms, insects, centipedes, and mollusks (snails, slugs). Marbled Salamander eggs under log Two friends from the Museum, Megan and Melissa, invited me to tag along with them yesterday, as they did some fieldwork for a future workshop. The female lays 50-200 eggs, one at a time, in a depression under a log or in a clump of vegetation that will fill with water when it rains. Marbled salamander eggs hatch in the early winter when the waters of the vernal pools rise enough to cover them with water. The female lays eggs sometime between September and … Megan made a great find as she and Melissa were turning over logs at the edge of a vernal pool, looking for salamanders – some viable Marbled Salamander eggs. Females lay 50 to 200 eggs. The marbled salamander differs from the Jefferson and spotted salamanders in its reproductive cycle. Mating season is throughout the fall. The marbled salamander is typically found in floodplains and low-lying fertile areas dominated by hardwood trees. Diet: The marbled salamander feeds primarily on terrestrial invertebrates such as worms, spiders, snails, centipedes, and a variety of insects. Eggs hatch as soon as they are covered with water, but may delay until spring if rainfall is insufficient to cover them. The marbled salamander, however, has skipped this story line. Marbled salamander females lay their eggs at the edges of dried-up vernal pools after the males have left sperm sacs. Habitat Photo for Marbled Salamander courtesy of Rebecca Chalmers. Eggs are laid in the fall under coarse woody debris while the pools are dry. Reproduction : Mating takes place on land, and then the females will move to dried vernal pools or other soon-to-be flooded areas to lay eggs. are commonly depredated by larger marbled salamander larvae (e.g., Stenhouse 1985, Cortwright and Nelson 1990). She remains with the eggs until hatched, warding off predators. The marbled salamander mates and lays its eggs on land. In Massachusetts, marbled salamanders complete metamorphosis in June and July, emerging on rainy nights in this period to move into surrounding woodlands (Timm et al. A marbled salamander larva.