Atractus alphonsehogei, also known commonly as Alphonse's ground snake, is a species of snake in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Brazil.
Etymology The specific name, alphonsehogei, is in honor of Brazilian-born Belgian herpetologist Alphonse Richard Hoge.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Atractus alphonsehogei, p. 6; Hoge, p. 125).
Geographic range Atractus alphonsehogei is found in northern Brazil, in the Brazilian states of Amazonas, Maranhão, Pará, and Roraima.
Habitat The preferred natural habitat of Atractus alphonsehogei is forest.
Description Atractus alphonsehogei may attain a snout-to-vent length of about in females, and about in males. Dorsally, it is brown to grayish black, with a cream-colored incomplete occipital collar. Ventrally, it is cream-colored, with a dark line running down each side of the belly, near the ends of the ventrals. Each smooth dorsal scale has one, or rarely two, apical pits. The dorsal scales are arranged in 17 rows throughout the whole length of the body (17/17/17). Mature males have tubercles in the cloacal region.
Behavior Atractus alphonsehogei is terrestrial and fossorial.
Diet Atractus alphonsehogei preys predominately upon earthworms.
Reproduction Atractus alphonsehogei is oviparous.
References
Further reading Cunha OR, Nascimento FP (1983). "Ofidios da Amazonia 20 – As especies de Atractus Wagler, 1828, na Amazonia oriental & Maranhão (Ophidia, Colubridae)". Boletim do Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Nova Serie, Zoologia (123): 1–38. (Atractus alphonsehogei, new species). (in Portuguese). Martins M, Oliveira ME (1993). "The snakes of the genus Atractus Wagler (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae) from the Manaus region, central Amazonia, Brazil". Zoologische Mededelingen 67: 21–40. Passos P, Prudente ALC, Ramos LO, Caicedo-Portilla JR, Lynch JD (2018). "Species delimitations in the Atractus collaris complex (Serpentes: Dipsadidae)". Zootaxa 4392 (3): 491–520.