Red Back Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)

On April 1, 2010, Dr. Boone took her Herpetology class to Miami University's Ecological Research Center (ERC) for another round of Herp hunting. We took a gravel road into the ERC and drove past cattle tanks and man-made ponds used in various experiments. After parking near large piles of reserve gravel, we all got out of our respective vans and walked up a grassy incline towards our destination. The path we took was situated between a corn field and wooded area. We entered into the woods via an opening in the wall of trees and brush off to our right. Inside we made our way over to a clearing in the woods that had a square pin constructed from aluminum ducting and metal netting clipped at the top (all around the perimeter) which served as a barrier. The pin was sectioned off into four parts and we were told that each quadrant was supposed to hold several spotted salamanders. The point of our visit was to see how many salamanders were still there and note if specific chemicals inside had had any effect on their growth and or survival rate. We were first instructed to dig through the leaf litter present in the sections to make sure the students would not step on them when we entered. Our primary task was to lift a board in the middle of the section and dig through a pit full of leaves and water to see if we could find them. We had to manually sift through the wet leaves for the salamanders as they could easily be overlooked. In the end, no one found anything. I did find a hole that went under the aluminum ducting in my section. This might explain why there were no salamanders there. Predation might explain the other sections. A bird could easily swoop in and grab them as they moved around under the leaves. Anyway, on our way out, I turned over a log and found a decent sized Red Back Salamander (Plethodon cinereus). It was rather shiny and the red of its back was in great contrast to the darker part of its body. Here is a picture of it (please forgive the state of my hands):

The Red Back Salamander is on the smaller side and grows between two to four inches long. They get their name from a brightly colored strip that runs down the entirety of their back. The strip can range in color from red to orange, yellow, and even light gray. It is usually found in wooded areas under rocks, logs, boards, and trash. Their main diet consists of worms, ants, beetles, and stink bugs (there were plenty of the latter flying around when we were on location). Since the Red Back has no aquatic larval stage, they develop fully in their eggs. These eggs are often laid in clutches in moist areas, such as damp logs and moss.

(Jim R. McClanahan)