They inhabit boreal, pine, and northern mesic forest. Breeding occurs roughly three days later than the blue-spotted salamander. The color pattern can be highly variable, but it most often th animal has a dark black or green back and sides covered with irregular yellow blotches and an olive-yellow belly. Interestingly, some populations are neotonic, reaching sexual maturity while still in the aquatic larval form. They prefer to breed in prairie ponds and woodland marshes.
Adults are olive green to yellow in coloration with two distict rows of red spots.
The Eastern newt has four stages in it's lifecycle. The larval form has external bushy gills. After 1 to 3 years the efts become sexually mature adults that usually return to the water to live, but can remain terrestrial if there when aquatic habitats are scarce. Newts occur in a variety of aquatic environments and the adults are active all year long. Breeding is in late fall, winter, and early spring.