Observations on the Complements of Ova and Nesting of the Four-Toed Salamander in Virginia

Abstract

1. Nests of Virginia Hemidactylium scutatum (Schlegel) contained from six to 868 eggs. 2. Of 248 specimens attending nests, 243 were adult females, two were juvenile females, one was an adult male, and two were juvenile males. 3. Forty per cent of 141 nests examined contained the eggs of two or more females. 4. Three of every five females had deserted the nesting site by the time the incubation period was only half over; few were found in nesting areas when the larvae were emerging. 5. Females will desert gregarious nests before the egg-laying period has terminated. 6. Exhaustion of the females may be the cause of their attending nest sites immediately after egg-deposition; the hunger drive and recuperation may account for their later desertion. 7. The position of the female in relation to the egg group depends upon the available space in the nesting site. 8. Dead eggs are found in many nests. Excessive moisture may be a contributory cause, but is not the direct cause of this mortality. 9. The total lengths of adult females attending Virginia nests ranged from 60.5 to 94.5 mm., with a mean of 78.4 ± 2.9 mm. 10. In Virginia, adult size can be attained in from 20 to 22 months; this may precede the attainment of sexual maturity by a year. 11. A strong, significant lineal correlation exists between the snout-vent length of gravid females and their large ova complements; Virginia Hemidactylium contained from 29 to 80 large ova prior to egg-laying. 12. There is no strong correlation between the snout-vent lengths of females and the numbers of eggs they attend. 13. Hemidactylium do not successfully void their ovaries of all large ova during egg-laying. This fact, plus nesting behavior, accounts for the lack of close relationship between the number of large ova a female produces, and the number of eggs she is found attending in the field.