THE REPTILES OF OHIO 



67 



The belly is white but marked with small squares of black. Across the 

 posterior half of the prefrontals is a dark band and another extends from the 

 eye to the angle of the mouth. A heart or V-shaped blotch of the ground 

 color lies on the nape of the neck and another smaller one on the parietals; 

 both are usually enclosed within dark extensions forward from the first dorsal 

 blotch but there are many departures from this arrangement. 



The largest specimen collected was taken in Troy Township, Wood 

 County. It shows abnormalities in color in that both the ground color and 

 blotches are darker than normal. The area between the median dorsal blotches 

 is buff and stands out in marked contrast to the darker areas. The belly is 

 salmon instead of white although anteriorly the ventral scutes show salmon 

 bases and whitish ends. 



Specimens examined, 156; specimens preserved, 97; specimens studied, 44. 



Affinities. — Two milk snakes from Hughes, Butler County, which are 

 preserved in the United States National Museum (No. 10084) have been 

 identified by Blanchard (1921, 186) as Lampropeltis triangulum syspila. A 



Map 15. Ohio locality records and general 

 range of the Milk Snake, Lampropellis iri- 

 angulum triangulum. 



