All this week I am focusing on orange things in nature. One of my favorites is the red eft stage (it's clearly ORANGE) of the red-spotted newt. Newts are a type of salamander. Red-spotted newts start out as eggs laid in water that hatch into larvae with gills. After about three months, they change into red efts. These efts wander about on land. Their bright color is a warning that they are toxic if eaten. After two or three years, they find a pond to live out the rest of their days as an adult newt and change their look entirely. They turn an olive color and develop a blade-like tail. They are aquatic at this stage, but they have lungs, rather than gills. #orange #natureclub #redeft #redspottednewt #newt

Posted by Mel Grosvenor at 2021-04-19 14:14:33 UTC