SNAKES OF THE GENUS PITUOPHIS 167 



Pituophis catenifer stejnegeri Van Denburgh, Proc. California Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 

 vol. 10, p. 21, 1920 (type, C.A.S. No. 14203; type locality. Fort Douglas, 

 Salt Lake County, Utah). — Van Denburgh and Slevin, Proc. California 

 Acad. Sci., ser. 4, vol. 11, p. 45, 1921.— Van Denburgh, Occ. Pap. California 

 Acad. Sci., No. 10, vol. 2, p. 729, pi. 77, 1922. — Stejneger and Barbour, 

 Checklist of North American amphibians and reptiles, ed. 2, p. 95, 1923. — 

 Blanchard, Pap. Michigan Acad. Sci. Arts Lett., vol. 4, pt. 2, p. 17, 1924. — 

 Tanner, Copeia, No. 163, p. 57, 1927. — Woodbury, Copeia, No. 166, 

 p. 20, 1928. 



Original description. — This form is described by Stejneger (1893, 

 p. 206) as follows: 



By this name I propose to designate the form usually called P. bellona or P. 

 sayi bellona, as there can be no doubt that Baird's and Girard's original Churchillia 

 bellona, which came from Presidio del Norte, Chihuahua, Mexico, was a typical 

 P. sayi. The type appears now to be lost, but I have before me a specimen from 

 the identical locality (U.S.N.M. No. 1543) with a most pronouncedly narrow 

 rostral and agreeing with P. sayi in all other respects also. Of all the later names 

 applied to various forms or individuals of the present species none seem to have 

 been based upon the richly colored form from the Great Basin and the south- 

 western deserts, which agrees with true P. catenifer in having a broad and low 

 rostral. That Baird and Girard later referred specimens of this form to P. bellona 

 can not, of course, justify the shifting of this name to another type. 



As a general rule this form has a more pronounced carination of the scales, and 

 a less number of smooth scales on the sides, but this character can not be relied 

 upon at all, and whether a specimen shaU be referred to either typical P. catenifer 

 or to this desert form must be decided upon the totality of the characters, as a 

 reliance upon the carination leads to very erroneous results. 



(This subspecies, according to Mr. Stejneger, is the form inhabiting the Great 

 Basin, while . . . typical P. catenifer is restricted to the coastal slope of California. 



On the east side of Pahrump Valley, Nevada, one of these snakes, measuring 

 5 feet in length, was killed April 29, among the tree yuccas along the upper edge 

 of the Larrea belt, at an altitude of 1,340 meters (4,400 feet.). Another was 

 obtained on the east slope of the Beaverdam Mts., in southwestern Utah,' May 11. 



In California, specimens were obtained at Lone Pine and Haway Meadows 

 in Owens Valley, and in the Panamint and Argus Mts. — C. Hart Merriam.) 



Systematic notes. — Van Denburgh in 1920 (p. 21) separated the 

 Utah specimens of the desert subspecies of catenifer, c. deserticola, 

 from those of the rest of the range, calling the Utah specimens catenifer 

 stejnegeri. To distinguish the two forms he gives the sum of the scale 

 rows and of preoculars on both sides of the head rarely exceeding 33 

 in stejnegeri and usually exceeding 33 in deserticola. The examination 

 of larger series of specimens, however, shows that this character is 

 not valid, since a large number of Utah specimens have 31 or 33 scale 

 rows, and two preoculars on each side, while, on the other hand, 

 many specimens from other parts of the range have only 29 scale 

 rows and frequently a single preocular on each side. The name 

 stejnegeri must therefore be considered a synonym of deserticola. 



> This specimen, U.S.N.M. No. 18070, was designated the type. 



