THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Colubridae  

Western Milksnake
Lampropeltis gentilis (Baird and Girard, 1853)

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 A multilocus molecular study by Ruane et al. (2014, Systematic Biology 63: 231–250) indicated that L. gentilis is distinct from the former L. triangulum. Additional sampling of L. gentilis with detailed examination of gene-flow, in conjunction with ecological niche-modeling analyses by Burbrink et al. (2022, Systematic Biology 71: 839–858), found that L. gentilis hybridizes with L. triangulum and that this occurs primarily where the eastern Nearctic forests transition to the grasslands of the Great Plains but otherwise remains distinct throughout its range. See Chambers and Hillis (2020, Systematic Biology 69: 184–193) and Chambers et al. (2023, Systematic Biology 72: 357–371,) for alternate views on the validity of this species as distinct from the former L. triangulum and see additional comments under L. triangulum. See Burbrink et al. (2024, Ecology and Evolution 14: e70263) for reanalysis and evaluation of Chambers et al. (2023) demonstrating species status.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.20.22.10.51)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 2.18 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Arizona Arkansas Colorado Kansas Louisiana Montana Nebraska New Mexico Oklahoma South Dakota Texas Utah Wyoming

First instance(s) of published English names:
Callicoe Snake (Coluber tesselatus: Rafinesque, Constantine S. 1820. Annals of Nature or Annual Synopsis of New Genera and Species of Animals, Plants, and Discoveries in North America. First Annual Number, for 1820. Thomas Smith, Lexington, Kentucky. 16pp.); Mexican King Snake (Ophibolus doliatus amaurus: 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); Scarlet King Snake (Ophibolus doliatus doliatus: 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); Arkansas King Snake (Ophibolus doliatus gentilis: 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); Kennicott's King Snake (Ophibolus multistratus: 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 clericus: Beyer, George. 1900. Louisana herpetology. Proceedings of the Louisiana Society of Naturalists 1897-1899():24-46); Scarlet King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus: Beyer, George. 1900. Louisana herpetology. Proceedings of the Louisiana Society of Naturalists 1897-1899():24-46); Red King Snake (Lampropeltis syspilus: Beyer, George. 1900. Louisana herpetology. Proceedings of the Louisiana Society of Naturalists 1897-1899():24-46); King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); House Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Milk Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Red King Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum amaura: Strecker, John K., Jr. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31); Annulated King Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum gentilis: Strecker, John K., Jr. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31); Ringed King Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum gentilis: Van Denburgh, John. 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America: An Account of the Species Known to Inhabit California and Oregon, Washinton, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, British Columbia, Sonora, and Lower California. Volume I. Lizards. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 556pp.); Prairie Painted King Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum gentilis: Taylor, Edward H. 1929. A revised checklist of the snakes of Kansas. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 19(5):53-62); Banded King Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum gentilis: Brennan, Lawrence A. 1934. A check list of the amphibians and reptiles of Ellis County, Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 37():189-191); Cope's Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum amaura: 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.); Western Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum gentilis: 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.); Coral Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus amaura: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Milk Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus amaura: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus amaura: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Scarlet Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus amaura: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Thunder Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus amaura: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Coral King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus amaura: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Corn Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus amaura: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Red King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus amaura: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Ringed King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus amaura: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Scarlet King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus amaura: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Scarlet House Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus amaura: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Arkansas King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Milk Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Red King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); House Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Painted King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Chicken Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Harlequin Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Arizona King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Thunder Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Coral King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Coral Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Banded King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Prairie Painted King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Western Milk Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Southern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Scarlet Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Ringed King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Corn Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Ring Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Western King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus gentilis: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Red King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus syspila: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Scarlet Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus syspila: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Thunder and Lightning Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus syspila: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus syspila: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); House Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus syspila: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Scarlet King Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus syspila: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Chicken Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus syspila: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Calico Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus syspila: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Corn Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus syspila: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Milk Snake (Lampropeltis doliatus syspila: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Louisiana Milk Snake (Lampropeltis doliata amaura: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Western Milk Snake (Lampropeltis doliata gentilis: 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:
1853 Baird, Spencer F. and Charles Girard. Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part 1. Serpents. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 2(5):xvi + 172
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
1950 Nelson, Dee Jay. Lampropeltis triangulum gentilis in Montana. Herpetologica 6:41-44
1951 Tanner, Wilmer W. Lampropeltis doliata rediscovered in Arizona. Herpetologica 7:180
1957 Tanner, Wilmer W. and Richard B. Loomis. A taxonomic and distributional study of the western subspecies of the milk snake, Lampropeltis doliata . Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 60(1):12-42
1970 Fitch, Henry S. and Robert R. Fleet. Natural history of the milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum) in northeastern Kansas. Herpetologica 26(4):387-396
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
1973 Blaney, Richard M.. Lampropeltis. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (150):1-2
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
2003 Smith, Brian E. and Nathan T. Stephens. Conservation assessment of the Pale Milk Snake in the Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota and Wyoming. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Custer, South Dakota. 17pp.
2007 Bryson, Robert W., JR., Jennifer Pastorini, Frank T. Burbrink, and Michael R. J. Forstner. A phylogeny of the Lampropeltis mexicana complex (Serpentes: Colubridae) based on mitochondrial DNA sequences suggests evidence for species level polyphyly within Lampropeltis. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43(2):674-684
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 Davis Rabosky, Alison R., Christian L. Cox, Daniel L. Rabosky, Pascal O. Title, Iris A. Holmes, Anat Feldman, and Jimmy A. McGuire. Coral snakes predict the evolution of mimicry across New World snakes Nature Communications 7(11484):1-9
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 Hillis, David M. The detection and naming of geographic variation within species. Herpetological Review 51(1):52-56
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 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
2024 Burbrink, Frank T., Edward A. Myers, R. Alexander Pyron. Understanding species limits through the formation of phylogeographic lineages. Ecology and Evolution 14(10):1-18
2024 Kornai, Daniel, Xiyun Jiao, Jiayi Ji, Tomáš Flouri, Ziheng Yang Hierarchical heuristic species delimitation under the multispecies coalescent model with migration. Systematic Biology 73(6):1015–1037

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 27 April 2025 10:59 CT