Kingsnakes are colubrid New World members of the genus Lampropeltis, which includes 26 species. Among these, about 45 subspecies are recognized. They are nonvenomous and ophiophagous in diet.
Description Kingsnakes vary widely in size and coloration. They can be as small as 24" (61 cm) or as long as 60" (152 cm). Some kingsnakes are colored in muted browns to black, while others are brightly marked in white, reds, yellows, grays, and lavenders that form rings, longitudinal stripes, speckles, and saddle-shaped bands.
Most kingsnakes have quite vibrant patterns. Some species, such as the scarlet kingsnake, Mexican milk snake, and red milk snake, have coloration and patterning that can cause them to be confused with the highly venomous coral snakes. One of the mnemonic rhymes to help people distinguish between coral snakes and their nonvenomous lookalikes in the United States is "red on black, a friend of Jack; red on yellow, kill a fellow". Other variations include "red on yellow kill a fellow, red on black venom lack",Life's Better Outdoors, South Carolina Department of natural resources (see FAQ's. -- "are there any visual clues"). Retrieved July 15, 2015Ignatavicius, Donna D.; Workman, M. Linda (2015). Medical-Surgical Nursing: Patient-Centered Collaborative Care, Eighth Edition. (pages 141-142) and referencing the order of traffic lights "yellow, red, stop!" All these mnemonics apply only to the three species of coral snakes native to the southern United States: Micrurus fulvius (the eastern or common coral snake), Micrurus tener (the Texas coral snake), and Micruroides euryxanthus (the Arizona coral snake). Coral snakes found in other parts of the world can have distinctly different patterns, red bands touching black bands, having only pink and blue bands, or having no bands at all.
Etymology Lampropeltis includes the Greek words for "shiny shield": ("shiny") + ("peltē shield") + (a Latin suffix). The name is given to them in reference to their smooth, enamel-like dorsal scales.
The "king" in the common name (as with the king cobra) refers to its preying on other snakes.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Taxonomy Taxonomic reclassification of kingsnakes, as with many herpetiles and other animals, is an ongoing process. Unexpected hybridization between kingsnake species and/or subspecies with adjacent home territories is not uncommon, thus creating new color morphs and variations, and further providing classification challenges for taxonomists; Often, different researchers will “agree to disagree”, one potentially citing a source that proves independent species-status to a group of wild snakes, while another will set out to prove that a discovered group is but a regional subspecies.
In the case of L. catalinensis, for example, only a single specimen is known, thus classification is not necessarily finite; this individual could be the lone uniquely-colored snake out of a more uniformly-colored litter, or even be the one documented example of a presently-unknown, localized subspecies.
Range Kingsnakes are native to North America, where they are found in much of the United States and into Mexico. The genus has adapted to a wide variety of habitats, including tropical forests, shrublands, and deserts. Kingsnakes are found coast-to-coast across North America, with some as far north as Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Illinois and Ohio; south of those areas, there are kingsnakes to be found in nearly every corner of the lower-48 United States. Kingsnakes are also found virtually coast-to-coast across México, all the way down to the México-Guatemala border. Further south from there, milksnakes become the more predominant kingsnake in Central America, such as the Honduran milk snake.
Predators Kingsnakes are often preyed upon by large vertebrates such as birds of prey. Tarantulas also sometimes prey on them. In addition, other kingsnakes themselves constitute a considerable threat, as all species of kingsnakes are known snake- and reptile-eaters.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Behavior and diet Kingsnakes are primarily terrestrial, but they are also known to be capable climbers and swimmers.
Kingsnakes use constriction to kill their prey and tend to be opportunistic feeders. They are known to seek out and eat other snakes (ophiophagy), including venomous snakes such as rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and copperheads. Some known non-venomous prey species of the kingsnake include gopher snakes, corn snakes, hognoses, and bullsnakes, garter snakes, rosy boa, water snakes, and brown snakes. Kingsnakes also eat a variety of lizards, rodents, birds, and eggs.Conant, Roger (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 429 pp. (paperback). (Genus Lampropeltis, p. 201.) The common kingsnake is known to be immune to the venom of other snakes and does eat rattlesnakes, but it is not necessarily immune to the venom of snakes from distant localities.
Kingsnakes such as the California kingsnake can exert twice as much constriction force relative to its body size as rat snakes and pythons. Scientists believe that such strong coils may be an adaptation to eating snakes and other reptilian prey, which can endure lower blood-oxygen levels before asphyxiating.
List of kingsnake species and subspecies
Kingsnake species and subspecies include (listed here alphabetically by specific and subspecific name): Guatemalan milk snake, Lampropeltis abnorma (Bocourt, 1886) Gray-banded kingsnake, Lampropeltis alterna (A. E. Brown, 1901) Mexican milk snake, Lampropeltis annulata Kennicott, 1860 California kingsnake, Lampropeltis californiae (Blainville, 1835) Mexican black kingsnake, L. c. nigrita Zweifel & Norris, 1955 Prairie kingsnake, Lampropeltis calligaster (Harlan, 1827) Santa Catalina Island kingsnake, Lampropeltis catalinensis Van Denburgh & Slevin, 1921 Scarlet kingsnake or scarlet milk snake, Lampropeltis elapsoides (Holbrook, 1838) Short-tailed snake, Lampropeltis extenuata (R.E. Brown, 1890) Central Plains milk snake, Lampropeltis gentilis (Baird & Girard, 1853) Common kingsnake, Lampropeltis getula (Linnaeus, 1766) Brooks's kingsnake, L. g. brooksi Barbour, 1919 Florida kingsnake, L. g. floridana (Blanchard, 1919) Eastern kingsnake, L. g. getula (Linnaeus, 1766) Apalachicola Lowlands kingsnake, L. g. meansi Krysko & Judd, 2006 Greer's kingsnake, Lampropeltis greeri (Webb, 1961) Speckled kingsnake, Lampropeltis holbrooki Stejneger, 1902 Madrean mountain kingsnake, Lampropeltis knoblochi Taylor, 1940 Nuevo León kingsnake, Lampropeltis leonis (Günther, 1893) Mexican kingsnake, Lampropeltis mexicana (Garman, 1884) Ecuadorian milk snake, Lampropeltis micropholis Cope, 1860 Black kingsnake, Lampropeltis nigra (Yarrow, 1882) South Florida mole kingsnake, Lampropeltis occipitolineata Price, 1987 Atlantic Central American milk snake, Lampropeltis polyzona Cope, 1860 Arizona mountain kingsnake, Lampropeltis pyromelana (Cope, 1866) Utah mountain kingsnake, L. p. infralabialis W. Tanner, 1953 Arizona mountain kingsnake, L. p. pyromelana (Cope, 1866) Mole kingsnake, Lampropeltis rhombomaculata (Holbrook, 1840) Ruthven's kingsnake, Lampropeltis ruthveni (Blanchard, 1920) Desert kingsnake, Lampropeltis splendida (Baird & Girard, 1853) Milk snake, Lampropeltis triangulum (Lacépède, 1789) Lampropeltis webbi Bryson, Dixon & Lazcano, 2005 California mountain kingsnake, Lampropeltis zonata (Lockington, 1876 ex Blainville, 1835) San Pedro kingsnake, L. z. agalma (Van Denburgh & Slevin, 1923) Todos Santos Island kingsnake, L. z. herrerae (Van Denburgh & Slevin, 1923) Sierra Nevada mountain kingsnake, L. z. multicincta (Yarrow, 1882) Coast Ranges mountain kingsnake, L. z. multifasciata (Bocourt, 1886) San Bernardino mountain kingsnake, L. z. parvirubra Zweifel, 1952 San Diego mountain kingsnake, L. z. pulchra Zweifel, 1952 Saint Helena mountain kingsnake, L. z. zonata (Lockington, 1876 ex Blainville, 1835)
Additionally, Pyron and Burbrink have argued that the short-tailed snake (Stilosoma extenuatum) (Brown, 1890) should be included in Lampropeltis.Pyron, R. Alexander; Frank T. Burbrink (2009). "Neogene diversification and taxonomic stability in the snake tribe Lampropeltini (Serpentes: Colubridae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 52(#2):524-529.
References
Further reading Hubbs, Brian (2009). Common Kingsnakes: A Natural History of Lampropeltis getula. Tempe, Arizona: Tricolor Books.
External links
Desert USA: Common Kingsnake Common Kingsnake - Lampropeltis getula Species account from the Iowa Reptile and Amphibian Field Guide Kingsnake eating a garter snake