No. 515] BREEDING HABITS OF AMBLY STOMA 



spectively. In this way twenty-two spermatophores 

 were deposited in 45 minutes. 



Most of this time the female remained quiet, Three 

 times, however, she slowly moved over a spermatophore 

 until the vent rested upon it. Then the hind limbs 

 closed about it. In this position the female remained, 

 each time, for ten to fifteen seconds and apparently made 

 no effort to take any portion of the spermatophore into 

 the cloaca as does Diemyctylus. It seemed to us rather 

 that there was a simple passage of the spermatozoa from 

 the spermatophore into the cloaca of the female. 



Evidently, then, the female must be present at the time 

 the spermatophores are deposited and in this we find the 

 explanation for the delay in deposition of spermatophores 

 after the species has first appeared from hibernation. 

 The males begin the migration but no spermatophores 

 are deposited until the arrival of the females. In the 

 spring of 1908 the migration began the evening of March 

 26, but spermatophores were not recorded until the 

 morning of March 28, after the arrival of the females. 

 With the arrival of the females and the ensuing court- 

 ship, spermatophores are deposited. These are usually 

 found in stagnant or slowly moving water, four to twelve 

 inches deep, though they are occasionally recorded in 

 water one and one half to two feet in depth. They 

 occur in groups numbering from 2 to 125, covering an area 

 of one half to three feet square. The usual number in 

 a group is between 30 and 50. The spermatophores and 

 the spermatozoa recently described by Smith 2 need no 

 discussion here. 



After the first spermatophores are deposited, an in- 

 terval elapses before the first eggs are recorded. In 

 former years this interval has varied from a few hours 

 to seven days and we had been led to believe that the 

 females did not come to the ponds until their eggs were 

 ripe. This belief is no longer tenable. After the cloacal 



'Smith, B. G., "The Breeding Habits of Amblystoma punctatum Linn.," 

 American Naturalist, XLI, No. 486, June, 1907, pp. 381-385. 



