lab 8

squamates 1

• Family Colubridae

  • Subfamily Colubrinae

Tantilla coronata (Southeastern Crowned Snake)

• Northern ⅔ of GA but a little into coastal plain

• insectivore

ID:

• Small 

• Dark head with light ring around neck behind eyes

• Lighter body sometimes

• Family Colubridae

  • Subfamily Colubrinae

Tantilla relicta (Central Florida Crowned Snake)

• Barely into ga from florida

• longleaf pine and sandhills

ID:

• Much smaller than T. coronata

• Normally plain black head, if there faint ring

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Haldea striatula (rough earth snake)

• Middle southern GA

• Eat earthworms and softbodied things

• Ground cover in forests

ID:

• Small

• Pointy head

• Brownish grey

• Pale venter

• Keeled scales (“rough”)

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Virginia valeriae (Smooth Earth snake)

• All over GA

• Eat earthworms and softbodied things

• Ground cover in forests

ID:

• Look just like rough earth snake but smooth scales, not keeled

• Gradient of brown dorsum to pale ventrum

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Dispadinae

• Weird snakes
  

Carphophis amoenus (Eastern wormsnake)

• Fall line and up

• Moist soils and woody debris

• Earthworm specialiasts

• Release musk and press pointed tail tip into prey

ID:

• Looks like smooth earth snak

• Line between dorsum and ventrum color is distinct

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Dispadinae

• Weird snakes

Diadophis punctatus (Ring-necked snake)

• All of GA

• Moist forested areas

• Eat soft things

• Occasionally musk

ID:

• Uniform dark dorsum

• Lighter ring that is same color as venter (yellow) 

• Venter van have spots on middle of belly

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Dispadinae

• Weird snakes

Farancia abacura (mud snake)

            “Counting board”

• From a little above fall line down

• Slow moving creeks, marshes, muddy bottomed wetlands

• Diet: sirens, amphium, dwarf siren

• Lay eggs in rotting logs, burrows
  

ID:

• 3-4 ft

• Smooth shiny black dorsum

• Alternating red and black bars on venter that reach up a little onto dorsum (pale in specimen)

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Dispadinae

• Weird snakes

Farancia erythrogramma (Rainbow snake)

Eryhtro = red, gramma = line

• Same range as other Faranacia

• Prefer lentic, cyprus swamps, streams

• Diet: american eels; juveniles eat fish salamanders, and tadpoles

ID:

• 3 distinct red lines

• yellowish/pink venter with 2-3 rows of dark spots

• Smooth shiny scale

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Dispadinae

• Weird snakes

Rhadinaea flavilata (Pine Woods snake)

• Southeastern corner of GA

• Woodland habitats with fallen trees

• Diet: small frogs, salamanders, snakes, lizards

• Have mildly toxic venom

• Silly smile

ID:

• Golden brown reddish color

• Pale venter

• Darker head

• Dark stripe that passes through eye to pack of jaw

• Pale upper lip under stripe

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Dispadinae

• Weird snakes

Heterdon platirhinos (Eastern hognose)

• All over GA

• Xeric habitats

• Diet: toads

• Enlarged maxillary teeth with mild venom

ID:

• 2-3 ft

• Less Upturned rostrum

• Flatten neck like cobra, or play dead

• Tan with blotches

• Venter coloration does change to solid past venter

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Dispadinae

• Weird snakes

Heterdon simus (Southern Hognose snake)

• More southeastern range

• Diet: toads, six-lined race runners, spadefoot toads

• Xeric pine-oak

ID:

• Smaller than H. platirhinos

• 3 rows of blotches with middle row being thickest

• More sharply upturned rostrum

• Flatten neck like cobra, or play dead

• Simus = same: coloration doesnt change on venter

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Nerodia erthryogaster (red-bellied watersnake)

    Water, red, belly

• Dark brown with lighter unpatterned underside (would be red)

• Diet: amphibians, crustaceans, fish

• Temporary wetlands but more terrestrial than other watersnakes

• Upper piedmont and coastal plains (no northern section or southeastern chunk of GA)

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Nerodia fasciata (Banded watersnake)

• brown/reddish with rectangular bands that narrow as they reach down to venter

• Dark stripe through eyes

• Faint marbling on venter, more plain than others

• Coastal plain

• Al freshwater habitats

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Nerodia floridana (green water snake)

• Largest one

• Plain dark dorsum 

• Plain belly and more white in color

• Subocular scales separate eye from lip

• Banding is thin and plentiful (spotty looking)

• Southeast and border with SC

• Vegetatively heavy water

• Sometimes brackish water

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Nerodia sipedon (northern watersnake)

• Dark colored dorsum

• Square blotches that alternate

  • Can be cont down to venter but doesnt have to

  • Half moon/square shaped blotches

• Northern half

• Around water

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Nerodia taxispilota (Brown watersnake)

• Head is visibly larger than neck

• Eyes high on head and near rostrum

• Distinct dark blotches/spots

• Diet: fish

• Coastal plains and into piedmont

• Permanent water bodies

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Regina septemvittata (Queen snake)

• grayish/green

• Three faint dark stripes down dorsum

• Two lighter stripes running down sides

• Venter is pale with 4 dark stripes

• Diet: crayfish

• North half of GA and into Southwest coastal plain

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Liodytes alleni (striped crayfish snake): no specimen

• Shorter head with large eyes

• Shiny

• 3 faded stripes down body

• 1 row of spots down venter

• Diet: crayfish

• Florida into south central GA

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Liodytes rigida (glossy crayfish snake)

• Shiny brownish to olive

• 2 row of spots down venter

• 2 Faint light stripes on dorsum

• South GA

• Chisel shaped teeth to ingest hard-shelled individuals

• Coil to hold prey (crayfish)

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Liodytes pygaea (black swamp snake)

• Shiny black dorsum

• Bright red venter

• Venter looks like zipper with black teeth

• Diet: earthworms, leeches, small fish, frogs, salamanders

• Slow moving water 

• South edge of georgia up into western river drainages

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Storeria dekayi (dekay’s brownsnake)

• Brown with two rows of dark spots down dorsum

• Belly is lighter

• All of GA (thong)

• In urban habitats

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Storeria occipitomaculata (Redbelly snake)

• Bright orange venter

• Stripe down center of back

• Light brown ring behind the head

• Specimen has dark head

• All of ga

• Forested habitats

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Thamnophis saurita (eastern ribbon snake)

• Dark dorsum with 3 yellow stripes

• Brown stripe between dorsum and venter

• Plain venter

• Big eyes

• All of GA and not RV and part of BR

• Edges of water 

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Natricinae: watersnakes, earthsnakes, and garter snakes (viviparous)

Thamnophis sirtalis (common garter snake)

• Dark dorsum with 3 yellow stripes

• Checkered pattern on the sides

• Plain belly

• All of GA

• Moist areas

• Travel away from water often

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Colubrinae

Cemophora coccinea (Northern scarlet snake)

• Alternating red, black, white bands

• Smooth scales

• Head is typically red and pointy

• Pale belly

• Enlarged maxillary teeth

• Sandy uplands, pinewoods

• All of GA except for northern

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Colubrinae

Coluber constrictor (Southern black racer)

• Glossy black with light chin and throat

• Looks angry

• Generlast active hunters

• Highly diurnal

• Open canopy for thermal reg

• All of GA

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Colubrinae

Drymarchon couperi (Eastern indigo)

• Glossy blue/black all over

• reddish/orange markings on chin and sides of head

• Diet: cottonmouths, rattlesnakes, tortoises, small mammals, etc.

• Xeric pine-oak sandhills

• Use gopher tortoise burrows

• South GA

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Colubrinae

Lampropeltis calligaster (Prairie Kingsnake)

• Tan with darker reddish brown elliptical blotches

• orange/Red eyes

• Pale with mottling on venter

• Smooth scales

• Board diet and secretive (Burrow)

• Open areas

• North GA but not in mountains (NE GA)

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Colubrinae

Lampropeltis elapsoides (Scarlet kingnake)

• Smooth scales with small head

• Red, black, white “laps” all the way around snake

• Short blunt snout

• Diet primarily small reptiles

• Partially arborial

• secretive/nocturnal

• Sandy soils/woodlands

• Humanmade structures

• North GA

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Colubrinae

Lampropeltis getula (eastern kingsnake)

• Blunt rostrum

• Chain like with black background and yellowish trace lines

• Lady

• Resistant to venom and eat other snakes

• Uplands and wetlands

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Colubrinae

Lampropeltis triangulum (eastern milk snake)

• gray/brown with darker splotches bordered by black

• Can be bright red 

• Irregular blotching on venter

• Disorganized checkered pattern

• V or y shaped light patch on head

• Use constriction

• Can eat venomous snakes

• North GA (mnt areas)

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Colubrinae

Coluber flagellum (Eastern coachwhip)

• Body tapers to long braided whiplike tail

• Dark head and gradient to lighter color

• Generalists and actively hunt

• Margins of wetlands and rivers

• GA except for north 

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Colubrinae

Opherodrys aestivus (rough green snake)

• Slender bright green with yellow bellies

• Thin

• Highly arboreal

• Hunt for insects, spiders, etc. 

• Rely on camouflage

• All over GA

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Colubrinae

Pantherophis guttatus (corn snake)

• Color ranges from orange to reddish brown

• Black edged splotches

• Black and white checkered belly

• Spear shape on head

• Semiarboreal but primarily terrestrial

• Diet: frogs lizards adults eat birds and rodents

• All over GA

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Colubrinae

Pantherophis alleghaniensis (eastern Rat Snake)

• Weakly keeled scales

• Black or black with gray mottling

• Pale belly with checkered pattern

• Juveniles have mask over nose and gray dorsum with saddling pattern on back

• Threatened -> will freeze and assume kinked position

  • Musk and rattle tails

• Diet: rodents, birds, and eggs

  • Use constriction

• Found everywhere

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily Colubrinae

Pituophis melanoleucus (pine snake)

• Large snakes with thick body

• Base color is lighter

• Dark square blotches on sides and back

• Have singular vocal cord and use to mimic rattlers

• Coastal plain 

• Dry sandy soils