South of The Netherlands

[Niels D]

Went herping today with the volunteers. Found L.vulgaris, L.helveticus and R.temporaria. The females of L.vulgaris weren't in the water yet, while the males allready had their crests. Hopefully we will find more species in the other puddles the following weeks.

L.vulgaris

L.helveticus

R.temporaria

A couple of the puddles

 

[Zach42]

Awesome! Is there water in the ponds all year, or are they temporary?

 

[Molch]

awesome, spectacular! That helveticus male is a thing of beauty. One of the prettiest and most under appreciated newt species They may not be as colorful, but they are so tastefully dressed in earthtones, and all those fine lines and squiggles and dots...sigh.

 

[Niels D]

There aren't many puddles in The Netherlands which are temporary, because it's really wet down here in the Lowlands.

L.helveticus is indeed very beautiful. Can't get enough of those weird feet.

 

[Azhael]

Aaaaaaaah, man, my herping withdrawal symptoms are coming back...i feel so cold...

I fully agree, i´ve said this a hundred times, but it´s never enough, both L.vulgaris and L.helveticus are extremely underapreciated species. I think they are both just amazing and somehow with a higher percentage of "newtness" compared to other species. I can never get enough of L.helveticus. Never.
In fact i´ll get my annual chance to go herping in a few weeks and i just can´t wait to see some lovely, lovely helveticus.
Thank you for sharing, Niels. Beautiful animals (and awesome break-dancing newt) and ponds. I can hear my waders begging me from the closset to take them somewhere like that

 

[Niels D]

It's now waiting for R.arvalis to start their mating behaviour. This should be a awesome trip if we'll find them in time.

 

[Niels D]

Today I found a neotenic L.vulgaris in another puddle. Probably a larvae from last year.

Oh yeah, check out this nasty bugger..

 

[KingCam]

Oh yeah, check out this nasty bugger..

Oh my GOD! That makes me never want to get in the water again

 

[Niels D]

It's a lava of a caddisfly (Trichoptera) specie. Don't know which one though. They look like ferocious predatory aliens.

 

[Niels D]

Found these two buggers today in a very small puddle. Luckily my friend didn't forget his camera, because I did. On the third picture you see a Hydrophilus piceus. They're really beautiful.

 

[EasternNewtLove]

I quite like Lissotriton Helveticus actually. I love their goofy feet. Lissotriton Vulgaris is also quite nice! These are some nice finds!

 

[daedae]

How large is that beetle? I want to squish it :3

 

[Niels D]

The bug was bigger than my thumb.

The last pics are from T.cristatus btw.