THE REPTILES OF OHIO 223 



Nelsonville (OUVC 1854): Waterloo Forest (OUVC 1265): Sec. 29, Waterloo 



Twp. (OUVC 2435). Carroll County: Near Amsterdam (OUVC 825A-B. 826). 

 Hocking County: Near Gibisonville (WED 342). Jackson County: Jackson 

 (OUVC 347, 1267); Jackson Twp. (OUVC 600). Jefferson County: B8rgholz 

 (FWB). Ross Count\-: Vigo (OSM 685). Scioto County: Roosevelt Game Pre- 

 serve. Nile Twp. (OSM 884); Shawnee State Forest (OSM 885; WED 45, 253). 



Lawrence E. Hicks caught a racer 5 miles northv/est of Marietta, Washing- 

 ton County, as it was in the process of swallowing a worm snake (Car- 

 phophis) . 



A hatchling from Athens County (OUVC 880) measures 275 mm. 

 (appro.ximately 10% inches) in length and is hence the smallest racer from the 

 state. 



Since the number of subcaudal scales is of diagnostic importance, this 

 characteristic has been re-evaluated upon the basis of the three populations: 

 (a) Coluber c. constrictor from eastern and southeastern Ohio; (b) Coluber 

 c. flavirentris from the northwestern third of the state; and (c) the intergrad- 

 ing population, which lies between them. (Many individual snakes from the 

 central portion of Ohio were identified in the first edition of this report either 

 as constrictor or as flavirentris; among the statistics below, all snakes from the 

 intergrading area are considered as intergrades despite their morphological 

 resemblance to either of the two subspecies.) The means and extremes for 

 subcaudals in the three populations, based upon all available Ohio material 

 with complete tails, are as follows: 



Coluber c. constrictor (29 specimens) — 85 to 102, mean 93.6. 



Coluber c. constrictor X ftavivenlris (52 specimens) — 84 to 105, mean 90.4. 



Colubsr c. ftavivcntrii (24 specimens) — 81 to 96, mean 87.0. 



Recent collecting has considerably incre?.sed the number of juvenile speci- 

 mens available for study. Dorsal blotch counts made upon these, from the 

 head to a point directly above the anus, may be summarized as follows: 



Coluber c. constrictor (9 specimens) — 54 to 66, mean 59.0. 



Coluber c. constrictor X flaviventris (17 specimens) — 52 to 72, mean 60.0. 



Coluber c. flaviventris (5 specimens) — 58 to 66, mean 61.2. 



Ortenburger, in his monograph on North American whip snakes and racers 

 (1928), states that juveniles of flaviventris (p. 180) have 65 to 80 dorsal 

 saddles "present between head and anterior third of tail" and that juveniles 

 of constrictor have 50 to 65 (p. 196). From the statistics summarized above, 

 it is obvious that the number of markings upon the young is of no diagnostic 

 value insofar as Ohio specimens are concerned. 



New records for the intergrading population are: 



Butler County: Hamilton (OSM 531); Re.ly (F.chte . 19J7); Reily Twp. 

 (OSM 688). Brown County: 1/2 mi. N of Greenbush (WED 5!); I mi. SW of 

 Sardinia (WED 391). Clermont County: Gcshen Station (UC 1); Stone'ick 

 Creek, near Owensville (CM 23952-3). Clinton Countv': Blanchester (UC 17); 

 Wilmington (UC 2; USNM 118319). Greene County: Bellbrook (DPLM 1.48). 

 Highland County: Belfast (DPLM 123.42). Hocking County: Near Ca-tweirs 

 Cliff. Lau-el Twp. (UMMZ 89893); Near Rockbridge (SL 466). Knox County: 

 I mi. E of Centerburg (CM 19385). Lake County: Near Painesville (OSM 877). 

 Montgomery County: Butler Twp. (DPLM 72.45); Dayton (Wood and Duellman, 

 1947b) ; Englewood Dam, Randolph Twp. (WED 46-7) ; Germantown Dam (DPLM 



