In the drier summer months, salamanders take in more beetles, centipedes, earthworms, and spiders. Small larvae feed mainly on planktonic invertebrates. Where as larger larvae feed mainly on aquatic insects, snails, earthworms, and sometimes tadpoles. Breeding ponds have tall aquatic plants that also provide cover for adults as well as provide shade for the larvae. These salamanders have been known to travel more than one mile per night to arrive at the breeding pond.
Males usually arrive first, and stay longer.
This assures their availability to females. They have a unique courtship behavior consisting of clasping, rubbing, and a complex walking sequence followed by sperm deposit by the male, and subsequent recovery by the female. The female deposits eggs separately, about two cm apart. In one breeding period, each mature female will lay approximately 200 eggs. She attaches them to shorter aquatic vegetation where they will hatch in 30 to 45 days.