Kingdom Animalia Subphylum Vertebrata Suborder Serpentes Scientific name Storeria dekayi Rank Species | Phylum Chordatam Order Squamata Family Colubridae Higher classification Storeria | |
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Similar Storeria, Snake, Reptile, Storeria occipitomaculata, Nerodia | ||
Northern brown snake storeria dekayi
Storeria dekayi, commonly known as the brown snake or De Kay's snake, is a small species of colubrid snake.
Contents
- Northern brown snake storeria dekayi
- Storeria dekayi northern brown snake
- Geographic range
- Description
- Reproduction
- Diet
- Etymology
- Subspecies
- References
Storeria dekayi northern brown snake
Geographic range
It is native to Southern Ontario and Quebec, most of the eastern half of the United States, through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and possibly El Salvador.
Description
Dorsally, it is brown to gray with a lighter center stripe bordered by small black spots; ventrally, it is lighter brown or pink with small black dots at the ends of the ventral scales. Adults usually measure less than 12 inches (30 cm) in total length (including tail), but the record total length is 19 3⁄8 inches (49 cm). It has keeled dorsal scales, and no loreal scale.
Reproduction
Like other natricine snakes (such as watersnakes, genus Nerodia; and gartersnakes, genus Thamnophis), Storeria dekayi is an ovoviviparous species.
Diet
Storeria dekayi primarily feeds on slugs, snails, and earthworms. Reports of other invertebrates (e.g., sow bugs,mites, millipedes) in the diet of S. dekayi are most likely the result of accidental ingestion. For example, during predation,invertebrates may adhere to a slug being consumed by a snake.
Etymology
The specific name, dekayi, is in honor of American zoologist James Ellsworth De Kay (1792–1851), who collected the first specimen in Long Island, New York, while the generic name, Storeria, honors zoologist David Humphreys Storer. This is the only North American snake whose binomial is a double honorific - that is, both the generic name and the specific name honor people.
Subspecies
There are eight recognized subspecies of S. dekayi, including the nominotypical subspecies.