410 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.53. 



adult. The ventral surface of the larva is unpigmented. The dorsal 

 pigmentation is uniform save for a row of uncolored areas on each 

 side of the middorsal line. These are the larval areas of Banta and 

 McAtee (1906) and are quite as significant in the development of the 

 color pattern of Desmognaihus fusca as they are in that of Spelerpes 

 maculicaudus. 



These pigmentless areas are in pairs on the body. They are con- 

 fluent on the tail. At about the time of transformation the areas 

 on the body become confluent and the result is a light dorsal band 

 with crenulate edges. The sides below the crenulates are mottled 

 and the mottling, shortly after metamorphosis extends over the ven- 

 tral surface. The ground color which is not present in the larvae 

 appears at metamorphosis.. It is extremely variable, becomes darker 

 with age and appears to be chiefly responsible for the blackness of 

 the whole upper surface in the old specimens. In young examples it 

 may be yellow or red. The sides of the tail are mottled much as are 

 the sides of the body. 



The sexual differences in dentition, proportions of tail, and outlines 

 of jaw have already been treated. Aside from this the male is larger 

 than .the female. The disparity in size is great. The largest male 

 seen, from Raleigh, North Carolina, was 134 mm. total length. Head 

 and body, 68 mm. The largest female seen, from Nelson County, 

 Virginia, was 107 mm. total length. Head and body, 52 mm. 



Habits. — ^The habits oi fusca have received much attention and are 

 quite well known. They seem to rarely enter the water, although 

 they live in its immediate proximity. They take advntage of holes 

 and burrows of other animals, but are able to make their own. They 

 lie in these burrows with the head toward the entrance. 



^irs. Wilder (1913) says, ''The ideal environmental conditions for 

 Desmognaihus fusca, as deduced from a study of those localities in 

 which they occur in the greatest abundance, are those afforded by 

 the banks of well shaded streams of shallow, perennially running 

 water." 



Surface (1913) and Mrs. Wilder (1913) give accounts of the food 

 of fusca; Surface tabulating the contents of 235 stomachs, Mrs. 

 Wilder of 18. 



The food is composed of insects, arachnids, earthworms, snails, and 

 isopods. Mrs. Wilder shows that cannibalism is occasionally re- 

 dulged in, and that they eat their own moulted skin, as do toads and 

 frogs. Surface found nematodes in two stomachs, but does not say 

 whether they were parasites or not. I have found mites encysted 

 imder the epidermis in some specimens. 



The life history has been thoroughly worked out by Mrs. Wilder 

 (1913). The mating is on land, fertilization is internal and the eggs 

 are laid on land. She gives the total number of eggs as 20, there 



