66 



NOTE ON THE BREEDING HABITS OF THE RED 

 BELLIED NEWT (MOLGE PYRRHOG ASTRA Boie). 



By Edgar R. Waite, F.L.S., Curator, Canterbury Museum, 

 Christchurch, N.Z. 



On August 31st, 1904, I exhibited before the Society living 

 examples of the Asiatic Red-bellied Newt, (Molge pyrrhogastra 

 Boie)* and though I kept them, in Sydney, until my removal in 

 April last year, they showed no signs of breeding. 



At the breeding season last year, the Newts were exhibited at 

 the New Zealand International Exhibition, but they were not 

 then suitably housed for breeding purposes. 



This season, however, they were returned to the tank in which 

 I kept them in Sydney, and with the exception of the exigencies 

 of climate, they are under precisely similar conditions. 



The first eggs were laid on October 10th, and hatched on 

 December 12th; subsequent eggs also required about sixty days 

 for incubation, the temperature of the water ranging from 55° 

 to 65° F. The tank is well supplied with plants, including 

 Vallisneria, Anacharis and Myriophyllum, but in every instance 

 the first-named was selected. The procedure does not appear to 

 differ from that of the Crested Newt of Britain (Molge cristata 

 Laur.), as detailed by Rusconi and Bell,f for though I formerly- 

 kept both adults and tadpoles of this species, I never actually 

 bred it. 



The Red-bellied Newt, as watched in my vivarium, usually 

 employs a terminal floating portion of a leaf of Vallisneria and 

 folds it upon itself, the leaf being often cracked in the process. 

 The leaf is glued in this position, and the single egg, placed 



These Proceedings, 190 i, xxix., p. 557. 

 t " British Reptiles," 1839, p. 122. 



