Subphylum Vertebrata Rank Subspecies | Phylum Chordata Class Reptilia Suborder Serpentes | |
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Similar Diadophis punctatus edwardsii, Storeria occipitomaculata, Red milk snake, Northern redbelly snake, Storeria dekayi | ||
Eastern milk snake lampropeltis triangulum triangulum
Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum, commonly known as the eastern milk snake or eastern milksnake, is a subspecies of Lampropeltis triangulum. The nonvenomous, colubrid snake is indigenous to eastern and central North America.
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Eastern milk snake lampropeltis triangulum triangulum
Geographic range
The eastern milk snake ranges from Maine to Ontario in the north to Alabama and North Carolina in the south. It was once thought by herpetologists to intergrade with Lampropeltis elapsoides, the scarlet kingsnake, in a portion of its southern range, but this has been disproved.
Description
Eastern milk snakes average 60 to 91 centimetres (24 to 36 in) in length, although specimens as long as 132 centimetres (52 in) have been measured. They have smooth and shiny scales. Their dorsal color pattern is narrow bands of white and black, alternated with brownish dorsal saddles. The dorsal saddles are sometimes reddish or reddish brown in the southern areas of their range. The pattern on the top and sides of the snake has also been described as three (or possibly five) series of black-bordered brown (reddish brown sometimes) blotches along the length of the snake on a gray or tan ground. The blotches in the dorsal series are large, while the blotches in the two (or possibly four) lateral series are smaller. The belly pattern is black and white checks (often irregular).