THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part-snakes)    Natricidae  

Rough Earthsnake
Virginia striatula (Linnaeus, 1766)
ver-JIN-ee-ah — stry-AT-yoo-luh

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Using genome-scale data, Nuñez et al. (2023, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 186: 1-12) demonstrated that V. valeriae and Haldea striatula were sister species and recommended returning striatula to the genus Virginia. (Boundy, Jeff, Frank T. Burbrink, and Sara Ruane. 2025. Squamata (excluding lizards) – Snakes. Pages 38-54 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)
Errata/Changes: Page 54: The "U" in "Using" to start the first sentence should not be italicized. — (4/10/2025)

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.08.22.52.49)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.5 MB

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Kansas Louisiana Mississippi Missouri North Carolina Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for the faint lineation of its dorsal scales.
Virginia — Named by Baird and Girard (1853), not directly after the U.S. state, but in honor of Virginia LeConte, the daughter of American entomologist John Eatton LeConte. It may also allude indirectly to the species' eastern U.S. distribution.
striatula — Diminutive of Latin striatus, meaning “striped” or “grooved.” Refers to the fine striations or slightly keeled texture of the scales, especially when compared to the smoother V. valeriae.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Smooth-headed Snake (Coluber striatulus: Forster, John R. 1771. A systematic catalogue of all the known plants of English North-America or, a flora Americae Septentrionalis. Pages in From Forster's translation of Bossu, Travels through that part of North America formerly called Louisiana, Vol. 1. T. Davies, London, England. pp.); Striated Snake (Coluber striatulus: Pennant, Thomas. 1785. Artic Zoology. Henry Hughs, London. pp.); Brown Snake (Haldea striatula: 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.); Brown Snake (Haldea striatula: 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.); Brown Snake (Haldea striatula: 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); Brown Snake (Haldea striatula: Hay, Oliver P. 1892. Batrachians and Reptiles of the State of Indiana. Pages 409-624 in 17th Annual Report of the Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources, William B. Burford, Printer and Binder, Indianapolis, Indiana. pp.); Little Striped Snake (Haldea striatula: Rhoads, Samuel N. 1895. Contributions to the zoology of Tennessee. No. 1, Reptiles and amphibians. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 47():376-407); Little Brown Snake (Haldea striatula: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Ground Snake (Haldea striatula: Brimley, Clement S. 1915. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206); Garman's Snake (Amphiardis inornatus: 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); Southern Ground Snake (Haldea striatula: 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.); Small Brown Viper (Haldea striatula: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Southern Ground Snake (Haldea striatula: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Small-eyed Brown Snake (Haldea striatula: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Striated Viper (Haldea striatula: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Southern Ground Snake (Haldea striatula: 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:
1766 Linné, Carl von (=Linneaus). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. [The system of nature through the three kingdoms of nature, according to classes, orders, genera, species with characters, differences, synonyms, places. Volume I.] Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm, Holmiae, Editio duodecima, reformata (12th Edition). 1-532pp.
1923 Blanchard, Frank N. The snakes of the genus Virginia. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters (3):343-365
1940 Breukelman, John. The snake Haldea striatula in Kansas. Herpetologica 2(2):56
1964 Clark, Donald R., Jr. The structures of the hemipenis as systematic characters in the genus Virginia Baird and Girard. Herpetologica 20(1):33-37
1991 Rossman, Douglas A. and Van Wallach. Virginia. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (529):1-4
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and reptiles in the upper Mississippi river valley: Systematic and distributional problems. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 66(4):149-152
1994 Powell, Robert, Joseph T. Collins, and Lee D. Fish. Virginia striatula. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (599):1-6
2013 McVay, John David and Bryan Carstens. Testing monophyly without well-supported gene trees: Evidence from multi-locus nuclear data conficts with existing taxonomy in the snake tribe Thamnophiini. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 68:425-431

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Tuesday 27 January 2026 17:16 CT