HERPETOLOGY OF ZUNI MOUNTAINS — GEHLBACH 301 



significant. These latter authors synonymizod D. r. laetas with 

 D. r. regalis but named D. regalis blanchardi. They were followed by 

 Stebbins (1954, p. 489), who further suggested, as had Garman 

 (1883, p. 73), that perhaps all ringneck snakes constitute a single 

 species. 



Another rearrangement was fostered by Smith and Taylor (1945, 

 p. 48), who maintamed Blanchard's views on D. regalis and D. r. 

 laetus in "view of the paucity of data on these snakes" but synony- 

 mized D. r. blanchardi with nominate D. regalis. Brown (1950, 

 p. 145) supported their position. The form D. dugesi had been 

 linked subspecifically with D. regalis (Taylor and Smith, 1938, p. 240) 

 and D. punctatus (Villada, 1878) but was considered as a distinct 

 species by Blanchard (1942, pp. 51-54). Utilizing new material from 

 western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, Mecham (1956) com- 

 bined D. regalis with D. punctatus but left subspecific boundaries in 

 question. 



Taxonomic appraisal of Zuni ringneck snakes and others from New 

 Mexico necessitated the following brief review of variation in south- 

 western and Mexican Diadophis. I have been fortunate in seeing 

 more material than was available to previous workers. Series from 

 single localities, nevertheless, are nonexistant; hence, certain mor- 

 phologically similar specimens were grouped politically (Aiizona, 

 Utah, Chihuahua). Fm-ther evidence for considering the montane 

 forms D. regalis and D. dugesi as subspecies of D. punctatus has been 

 found. The racial boundaries left open by Mecham (1956) can now 

 be approximated, and D. r. laetus, along with D. r. blanchardi, may 

 be placed in the synonymy of D. p. regalis. 



As suggested by Cope (IGOO, pp. 544-545), the neck ring is a poly- 

 chromatic character with dominance in some areas and variable 

 manifestation in others. It occurs in some individuals from Sandoval 

 County (New Mexico), Yavapai County (Arizona), and Chihuahua 

 (Mexico), but is absent in others. Zuni specimens have neck rings 

 (pi. 4) as do those from Catron, Sierra, and Grant Counties in south- 

 western New Mexico. Material examined from central and south- 

 eastern New Mexico usually lacks the ring, but one individual from 

 Eddy County has it interrupted middorsally (Mecham, 1956). 

 Incomplete neck rings also occur in the prairie race, D. p. arnyi (=i5. 

 p. docilis, Mecham, 1956), and specimens from Utah, Trans-Pecos, 

 Texas (Blanchard, 1942, pp. 63, 73; Mecham, 1956), and Jalisco, 

 Mexico (UIMNH 47866). Most specimens from Utah and Trans- 

 Pecos, Texas, lack the ring, whereas most Arizona and Mexican indi- 

 viduals have it well developed. 



Similarly, extent of the yellow color of the venter on the dorsal 

 scale rows varies from a single spot on a few anterior scales of the first 



