Lissotriton vulgaris - Common Newt

Common Newt in springtime

Taxonomy

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Amphibia

Order: Caudata

Family: Salamandridae

Here is a common newt, also known as a Smooth Newt. They are found in most unpolluted lowland ponds and slow-flowing streams in Britain. These lovely little amphibians can grow to a length of about 10 cm. This specimen was found beside our garden pond in West Wales, where many fierce dragonfly larvae prey on anything that moves in the margins - and so taking up residence there does seem like like a recipe for living dangerously, even for something as large as a newt!

While in the water, newts feed on aquatic insects such as Chironomus midge larvae and pupae; we have also seen them stalking (and succeeding in catching) paired Common Blue Damselflies that touch down on the surface to lay their eggs.

Common Newt beside a pond in late summer

Common newts spend much of their time on land, but between early spring and mid-summer you may find them in the weedy, shallow water at the margins of ponds, lakes and slow-flowing rivers.

Just like other amphibians, young newts are born in spring or early summer. They live in the water, surfacing occasionally for air, until mid to late summer, whereupon they clamber out and live among the damp vegetation at the water's edge. Fortunately, many terrestrial insects hatch in the autumn, and as they settle among the marginal grasses and plants some of them fail to recognise the danger presented by slow-crawling, fast-pouncing newts.