Plethodon shermani Stejneger, 1906 Red-legged Salamander Subgenus: Plethodon	family: Plethodontidae subfamily: Plethodontinae genus: Plethodon

Locality
County
State
Country
Date Recorded
Call Type
Temperature (F/C)
Temperature Type
Background
Notes	This clip shows pheromone transfer from male to female during salamander courtship, late in the courtship sequence. The female (on the left) is straddling the tail of the male (on the right). The male turns and performs a head-slap, which transfers pheromonal secretions from the mental gland under the male's chin to the female.
Recorded By	Stevan Arnold
Source
Copyright	Stevan Arnold
Date Entered	2010-04-19

Locality
County
State
Country
Date Recorded
Call Type
Temperature (F/C)
Temperature Type
Background
Notes	The female continues to straddle the male's gently undulating tail, while resting her chin on the dorsal surface of the base of his tail. After a few moments, the male deposits a white spermatophore on the substrate, then moves forward and away. The female moves forward, keeping her chin on his tail base, until her vent area is over the spermatophore, then backs up, lowers her vent, and picks up the spermatophore with her cloaca.
Recorded By	Stevan Arnold
Source
Copyright	Stevan Arnold
Date Entered	2010-04-19

Feedback or comments about this page.   Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2025. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 1 Apr 2025. AmphibiaWeb's policy on data use.