Blue-Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale)

County List:

Rule:

Forested or Mixed Forested/Nonforested Landscapes

      (Northern Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Mixed Northern Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Any Lowland Deciduous (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Mixed Lowland Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
   containing:
      (Dead Down Woody Debris and Vernal Pools)

Habitat List:

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Literature:

Blue-spotted salamanders prefer moist deciduous hardwood forests but may occur in rather dry, disturbed woods as well as swamp woodlands. Ponds that hold water well into the summer are essential for breeding. This species is often found beneath logs and other forest debris throughout the summer and fall.

Blue-spotted salamanders normally breed in March or early April when stimulated by warm rains. Some overwinter near breeding ponds, while others migrate into the ponds from nearby woodlands.

Blue-spotted salamanders eat small invertebrates such as insects, spiders, centipedes, slugs, and earthworms. The larvae are also carnivorous and feed mostly on aquatic invertebrates.

Habitat: wooded, swampy or moist areas. Occasionally in overgrown pastures. Sometimes occurs where soil is sandy, and may be found under logs or other forest debris.

Special Habitat Requirements: Ponds or semi-permanent water for breeding.

Reproduction: Migration to the breeding pools begins in early April in southern Maine and about three weeks later in the north. Semi-permanent pools with overhanging bushes and grass, sphagnum moss margins, or leafy bottoms are favored when available. Abandoned beaver flowages, highway ditches, and flooded sections of old logging roads are also used. Such sites are often in or near deciduous or mixed forest. Water depth is seldom more than 30-40 cm (12-15 in) and often less

Habitat: After the breeding season, blue-spotted salamanders disperse into wooded areas, where they seek shelter by burrowing under rocks, rotting stumps and logs, mats of moss and vegetative debris, or in loose soil. They have also been found in wood piles, under discarded lumber, old tarpaulins, and sheets of metal in rural yards, and are occasionally discovered in residential cellars in the fall. The damp, moderately shaded environment that is provided by deciduous or mixed forest appears to be their favored habitat.

Habitat destruction poses a direct threat to survival of the blue-spotted salamander. Although clearcutting, forest fires, reforestation exclusively with evergreen species, spraying insecticides or herbicides may not eliminate them, populations may be reduced in such areas.