THE 8IRED0N. 181 



they are terrestrial when adult, living in damp places and 

 feeding on insects. The larvee retain their gills to a period 

 when they are as large or even larger than the parent. The 

 most interesting of all tlio salamanders is the Aviblystoma 

 mavortium, whose larva is called the axolotl (Fig. 228). 



Fro. 237.— Skeleton of the hell-bender (Menopoma). From Ijutken's Zoelogy, 



This larva is larger than the adult, which lives on land, 

 sometimes being about a third of a metre (12 inches) in 

 length, the adult being twenty centimetres (8 inches) long. 

 The axolotl or siredon abounds in the lakes of the Eocky 

 Mountain plateau from Montana to Mexico, from an alti- 

 tude of 4000 to 8000 or 9000 feet; the Mexican axolotl be- 



