StarDestroyer.Net BBS

So, some of you, I have spent my time as an undergrad in a social insect lab. Well, one of my lab's collaborators works with termites (specifically Zootermopsis nevadensis) and his grad students go to central CA periodically to collect the termite nests (rotting logs)

Well, sometimes things other than termites get found in the nests. In this case, two little salamanders, Batrachoseps attenuatus, the california slender salamander. These little guys are neonates, as this species does not have a larval stage. Each one is less than a cm long. I am going to try to keep them alive as lab pets.

Photos taken courtesy of a dissection scope

Definitely different pets than usual
How large will they be when fully grown ?

About 7.5-14 cm total.

What exactly would salamanders be doing in a termite colony? Wouldn't they be attacked?

nickolay1 wrote:What exactly would salamanders be doing in a termite colony? Wouldn't they be attacked?

The obvious answer is eating very tiny termites. The alternative is that mom laid her eggs inside the log, which is good and soaking wet.

If they take on the hydrocarbon profile of the colony, they might not be noticed... *shrug* how they avoided that I am not sure.

Alyrium Denryle wrote:The obvious answer is eating very tiny termites. The alternative is that mom laid her eggs inside the log, which is good and soaking wet.

Ah, so the termite species under study feeds on wet wood?

nickolay1 wrote:

Alyrium Denryle wrote:The obvious answer is eating very tiny termites. The alternative is that mom laid her eggs inside the log, which is good and soaking wet.

Ah, so the termite species under study feeds on wet wood?

Yeah, they build their colonies in it