The terrestrial juvenile stage of a newt is called an eft. An eft is the young, land-dwelling phase that follows the aquatic larval stage and usually comes before the newt returns to water as a breeding adult.
The term is especially familiar from the eastern newt, whose life cycle commonly has three stages: an aquatic larva, a terrestrial red eft, and an aquatic adult. Larvae hatch and develop in ponds with external gills. After metamorphosis, they leave the water, lose their gills, and become brightly colored efts.
This land phase can last for several years. In eastern newts, the red eft is often orange-red with dark spots outlined in black. Its vivid color is warning coloration, signaling chemical defenses to potential predators. During this period, efts may travel between ponds, helping populations exchange genes.
Eft is not a synonym for every juvenile salamander. Pupa and nymph belong mainly to insect development, while larva describes the earlier aquatic stage of many newts and salamanders.