THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY


Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Colubridae  

Scarlet Kingsnake
Lampropeltis elapsoides (Holbrook, 1838)

Current SSAR Comments:
The recognition of L. elapsoides as a species was confirmed in a large multilocus study with many individuals sampled by Ruane et al. (2014, Systematic Biology 63: 231–250) and further evaluated and supported with genomic analyses in Burbrink et al. (2022, Systematic Biology 71: 839–858); see additional comments under L. triangulum.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.09.10.13.17.45)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.37 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Bead-snake (Anguis niger, maculis rubris & luteis eleganter varius: Catesby, Mark and Cromwell Mortimer. 1753. IX. A Continuation of an Account of an Essay Towards a Natural History of Carolina and the Bahama Islands. By Mark Catesby, F. R. S. with Some Extracts out of the Eighth Set. By Dr. Mortimer, Secr. R. S. Philosophical Transactions 39():251-258); Bead Snake (Anguis niger: Catesby, Mark. 1754. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands: Containing the Figures of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, Insects, and Plants: Particularly the Forest-trees, Shrubs, and other Plants, not Hitherto Described, or Very Incorrectly Figured by Authors. Together with Their Descriptions in English and French. To which, are Added Observations on the Air, Soil, and Waters: with Remarks upon Agriculture, Grain, Pulse, Roots, &c. To the Whole, is Prefixed a New and Correct Map of the Countries Treated of. , London. pp.); Bead Snake (Anguis niger, maculis rubris & luteis eleganter varius: Catesby, Mark. 1754. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands: Containing the Figures of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, Insects, and Plants: Particularly the Forest-trees, Shrubs, and other Plants, not Hitherto Described, or Very Incorrectly Figured by Authors. Together with Their Descriptions in English and French. To which, are Added Observations on the Air, Soil, and Waters: with Remarks upon Agriculture, Grain, Pulse, Roots, &c. To the Whole, is Prefixed a New and Correct Map of the Countries Treated of. , London. pp.); Scarlet Snake (Osceola elapsoidea: 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.); Scarlet Snake (Osceola elapsoidea: 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.); Red King Snake (Ophibolus doliatus coccineus: 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); Osceola's Snake (Osceola elapsoidea: 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); Red King Snake (Lampropeltis coccineus: Stejneger, Leonhard. 1895. The poisonous snakes of North America. Annual Report of the United States National Museum 1893(2):337-487); Scarlet Kingsnake (Lampropeltis doliatus: Stejneger, Leonhard. 1895. The poisonous snakes of North America. Annual Report of the United States National Museum 1893(2):337-487); Red King Snake (Lampropeltis coccineus: Beyer, George. 1900. Louisana herpetology. Proceedings of the Louisiana Society of Naturalists 1897-1899():24-46); False Coral Snake (Lampropeltis elapsoides elapsoides: 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.); Scarlet King Snake (Lampropeltis elapsoides elapsoides: 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.); Northern Scarlet King Snake (Lampropeltis elapsoides virginiana: 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.); Scarlet King Snake (Lampropeltis doliata doliata: 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

Pertinent LIterature:
1838 Holbrook, John E. North American Herpetology; or, a Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States. Volume 2. J. Dobson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 130pp.
1971 Williams, Kenneth L. Systematics of the colubrid snake Lampropeltis triangulum Lacepede. Dissertation. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. 458pp.
1971 Williams, Kenneth L. The status of the snake name Coluber eximius. Journal of Herpetology 5(3-4):191
1978 Williams, Kenneth L. Systematics and natural history of the American milk snake, Lampropeltis traingulum. Milwaukee Public Museum Contributions in Biology and Geology (2):1-258
1988 Williams, Kenneth L. Systematics and Natural History of the American Milk Snake, Lampropeltis triangulum. 2nd Revised Edition Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee. 176pp.
1994 Williams, Kenneth L. Lampropeltis triangulum. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (594):1-10
2014 Ruane, Sara, Robert W. Bryson Jr., R. Alexander Pyron and Frank T. Burbrink. Coalescent species delimitation in Milksnakes (genus Lampropeltis) and impacts on phylogenetic comparative analyses. Systematic Biology 63(2):231-250
2015 Ruane, Sara, Omar Torres-Carvajal , and Frank T. Burbrink. Independent demographic responses to climate change among temperate and tropical Milksnakes (Colubridae: Genus Lampropeltis). PLOS One 10(6):1-17
2015 Ruane, Sara. Using geometric morphometrics for integrative taxonomy: An examination of head shapes of milksnakes (genus Lampropeltis). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 2015():1-20
2016 Burbrink, Frank T., Yvonne L. Chan, Edward A. Myers,Sara Ruane, Brian Tilston Smith, and Michael J. Hickerson. Asynchronous demographic responses to Pleistocene climate change in Eastern Nearctic vertebrates. Ecology Letter 2016():1-11
2020 Chambers, E. Anne and David M. Hillis. The multispecies coalescent over-splits species in the case of geographically widespread taxa. Systematic Biology 69(1):184–193
2021 Marshall, Thomas L., E. Anne Chambers, Mikhail V. Matz, and David M. Hillis. How mitonuclear discordance and geographic variation have confounded species boundaries in a widely studied snake. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (162):1-12
2021 Burbrink, Frank and Sara Ruane. Contemporary philosophy and methods for studying speciation and delimiting species. Ichthyology & Herpetology 109(3):874-894
2022 Burbrink, Frank T., Brian I. Crother, Christopher M. Murray, Brian Tilston Smith, Sara Ruane, Edward A. Myers, and Robert Alexander Pyron. Empirical and philosophical problems with the subspecies rank. Ecology and Evolution 12(7):1-17
2022 Burbrink, Frank T., Justin M. Bernstein, Arianna Kuhn, Marcelo Gehara, and Sara Ruane. Ecological divergence and the history of gene flow in the Nearctic milksnakes (Lampropeltis triangulum Complex) Systematic Biology 71(4):839–858
2023 Chambers, E. Anne, Thomas L. Marshall, and David M. Hillis. The importance of contact zones for distinguishing interspecific from intraspecific geographic variation. Systematic Biology 72(2):357–371

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Thursday 30 January 2025 02:28 CT