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Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Colubridae  

Prairie Kingsnake
Lampropeltis calligaster (Harlan, 1827)

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.25.14.48.02)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.59 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Kennicott's Chain Snake (Ophibolus calligaster: Jordan, David Starr. 1876. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Jansen, McClurg, and Company, Chicago, Illinois.. 342pp.); Kennicott's Chain Snake (: Mozley, Annie E. 1877. List of Kansas snakes in the museum of the Kansas State University. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 6():34-35); Kennicott's Chain Snake (Ophibolus calligaster: Jordan, David S. 1878. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Second Edition, Revised, and Enlarged. Jansen, McClurg & Company, Chicago. pp.); Blotched King Snake (Ophibolus rhombomaculatus: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Evan's King Snake (Ophibolus calligaster: Branson, Edwin B. 1904. Snakes of Kansas. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 2(13):353-430); Yellow-bellied King Snake (: Ditmars, Raymond L. 1907. The Reptile Book; A comprehensive, Popularised Work on the Structure and Habits of the Turtles, Tortoises, Crocodilians, Lizards and Snakes which Inhabit the United States and Northern Mexico. Doubleday, Pae, and Company, New York. 472pp.); Yellow-bellied King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Brown King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Brown King Snake (Ophibolus rhombomaculatus: Brimley, Clement S. 1915. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206); Yellow-bellied King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Schmidt, Karl Peterson and D. D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. C.P. Putnam and Sons, New York. 365pp.); Harlan's Chain Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Holbrook's King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Prairie King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Yellow Bellied King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Milk Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Say's Chain Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Holbrook's Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Kennicott's Chain Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Blotched King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Evan's King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Kansas King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Brown King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Blotched King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Brown King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Ground Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Brown Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); House Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Mole Catcher (Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Mole Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Yellow-bellied King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Yellow-bellied King Snake (Lampropeltis calligaster calligaster: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1827 Harlan, Richard. Genera of North American Reptilia, and a synopsis of the species Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences Philidelphia 5(2):317-372
1920 Blanchard, Frank N. A synopsis of the king snakes: Genus Lampropeltis Fitzinger. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (87):1-7
1972 Baker, Robert J., George A. Mengden, and James J. Bull. Karyotypic studies of thirty-eight species of North American snakes . Copeia 1972(2):257-265
1973 Blaney, Richard M.. Lampropeltis. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (150):1-2
1977 Price, Robert M. Systematics of the colubrid snake Lampropeltis calligaster (Harlan). Thesis. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. 98pp.
1979 Blaney, Richard M. Lampropeltis calligaster. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (229):1-2
1979 Fitch, Henry S. A field study of the prairie kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster) Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 81(4):441-461
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Viewpoint: A new taxonomic arrangement for some North American amphibins and reptiles Herpetological Review 22(2):42-43
2009 Pyron, R. Alexander and Frank T. Burbrink. Neogene diversification and taxonomic stability in the snake tribe Lampropeltini (Serpentes: Colubridae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 52(2):524-529
2014 Crother, Brian I. The bold taxonomic hypotheses of Collins (1991): 23 years later. Herpetological Review 45(2):268-272
2017 McKelvy, Alexander and Frank T. Burbrink. Ecological divergence in the Yellow-bellied Kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster) at two North American biodiversity hotspots. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 106(2017):61-72

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 27 April 2025 12:24 CT