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| Kirtland's Snake, Clonophis kirtlandi (Kennicott 1856). Photographed in Coles County, Illinois (top) and Jefferson County, Indiana (bottom). Adults may reach 662 mm, but most specimens are less than 450 mm. It ranges from western Pennsylvania westward to extreme northeastern Missouri, as far north and southern Michigan and as far south as northern Kentucky. This earthworm and slug eating snake lives in wet meadows and swamp forests and is often found in urban parks. Its distribution appears to be very disjunct, but it spends much of its time underground and is a relatively poorly known species. Alfaro and Arnold (2001 Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 21:408-423) present evidence that Clonophis is part of a semifossorial clade composed of Virginia, Seminatrix, Regina rigida, and Storeria. |
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| Common Northern Water Snake, Nerodia sipedon (Linnaeus, 1758). Photographed in Will County, Illinois. For more Water Snakes in the genus Nerodia click on the photo. |
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| Eastern Ribbon Snake, Thamnophis sauritus(Linnaeus, 1766). Photographed near Whitehall, Michigan. For more Ribbon Snakes and Garter Snakes in the genus Thamnophis click on the photograph. |
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| Glossy Crayfish Snake, Regina rigida (Say, 1825). Photographs of a captive snake from Onslow County, North Carolina.
The Glossy Crayfish Snake inhabits the Coastal Plain of the southeastern USA. It ranges fro Virginia to peninsular Florida and westward to Texas and extreme southeast Oklahoma. Adults reach 797 mm, but most specimens are in the 350-600 mm range. It uses wetlands with stagnant or slow moving water, but it may wander up streams and into upland terrestrial habitats. In coastal areas it may invade brackish waters, or at least freshwater tidal areas. It is often associated with mud and dense vegetation. Its diet is mostly crayfish and it does eat crayfish with hard shells. Reports that this snake eats fish, salamanders, and frogs may be erroneous. Juvenile snakes feed on aquatic insects larvae, usually dragonfly naiads. Females give birth to litters of 6-14 young probably in mid to late summer. Lawson (1887 Journal of Herpetology 21:140-157) showed Regina to be polyphyletic, with rigida being the sister to all of the other Regina and Nerodia included in the study. Later, Alfaro and Arnold (2001 Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 21:408-423) present evidence that rigida is part of a semifossorial clade composed of Clonophis, Virginia, Seminatrix, and Storeria. And, that rigida may be the sister to Seminatrix. |
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| The Queen Snake, Regina septemvittata (Say, 1825). Photographed in Will County, Illinois. The Queen Snake inhabits mostly forested areas along streams in the eastern USA and southern Canada; from Southern Ontario southward to the Gulf Coast of Florida's panhandle. There a population in northeastern Arkansas, the only population east of the Mississippi. This snake specializes in feeding on molted crayfish, but they on occasion take fish or other prey. In early morning they can often be seen swimming from rock to rock and inserting their heads under the stones and in other crevices for molted crayfish. They have been experimentally shown to be able to distinguish molted from unmolted crayfish (and other potential prey odors) soon after birth. Maximum size is 716 mm, but most are smaller. Females give birth to 5-23 young. Alfaro and Arnold (2001 Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 21:408-423) present evidence that septemvittata is part of a clade that includes Nerodia and Tropidoclonion. |
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| Black Swamp Snake, Seminatrix pygaea(Cope, 1871), Photograph of a captive from North Carolina. Adults may reach a maximum total length of 555 mm, but most are in the 100-300 mm range. Its diet is general and includes invertebrates such as earthworms and leeches, and a variety of fish and amphibians. It lives in slow moving water or stagnant water with dense vegetation. It appears to be more active at night, and it may wander out of the water, particularly during times of drought. The specimen in the photo is referable to the subspecies S. p. paludis. |
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| Florida Brown Snake Storeria dekayi victa Conant and Collins 1991. Photographed in Gainesville, Florida. Maximum size is about 483 mm, but most specimens are in the 230-330 mm range. It occurs in peninsular Florida and southeastern Georgia. |
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| Midland Brown Snake, Storeria dekayi (Holbrook, 1842) from Will County, Illinois and is referable to the subspecies S. d. wrightorum. This species ranges from southern Ontario through most of the eastern and central USA into Mexico. It feeds upon soft bodied invertebrates and it may be one of North America's most common snakes. Alfaro and Arnold (2001 Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 21:408-423) present evidence that Storeria is part of a semifossorial clade composed of Clonophis, Virginia, Seminatrix, and Regina rigida. And, that dekayi is the sister to S. occipitomaculata. |
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| Red Bellied Snake, Storeria occipitomaculata (Storer, 1839). Photographed in Monroe County, Wisconsin. Maximum size is 406 mm, but most are less than 250 mm. This species feeds primarily upon slugs. It is less common than S. dekayi, and may prefer drier microhabitats. Its distribution is most of eastern North America from southern Canada to the Gulf Coast, and it extends as far west as Minnesota and eastern Texas, with a disjunct population in central Nebraska. |
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| The thamnophiins are a monophyletic clade composing at least 7 genera and 54 species. Some of these snakes are the most commonly encountered snakes in North America, and are often kept as pets by children. Few of them exceed a meter in length, all of them are viviparous, and while some are diet generalists some are specialists. They often live in habitats disturbed by humans and most of them like moist environments, or are found near water. The Thamnophiinae range from central Canada and southeast Alaska southward to Costa Rica. |
