133 



REPTILIA: SERPENTES : COLUBRIDAE * * IMANTODES 



IMANTODES Oumeril 



1853 l^iantodes Dumeril, Mem. Acad. Sc i . Paris, 2J: 5^7. Type-species: Coluber cenchoa Linnaeus. 

 I860 H imantodes Cope (emendation of I mantodes Oumeril), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Pliila., 1860: 264. 



Distribution; Mexico through Central America to northwestern Ecuador west of Andes to Paraguay, 

 Argentina, and Bolivia east of Andes. 



Content: Five species, of which only one ( tenu i ss imus Cope) is ex tral i m i tal. 



Comment: According to Stuart, Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich., 122, I563, 100, two varieties of 



Imantodes described by Muller, Verb. Naturforsch. Ges. Basel, ] , 1882, 151> 3s Di psas cenchoa var. 



rhombea ta and Di psas cenchoa var. ret i culata , cannot be properly determined because of inadequate 

 descriptions. Type locality for both is "Guatemala". 



Key to the species Clave de especies 



1. Scale rows at midbody I7 2 1, Con I7 filas de escamas en el medio 'del cuerpo- 



Scale rows at midbody I5 lent if erus 2 



Con 15 filas de escamas en el medio del cuerpo- 

 lent iferus 



2. Vertebral scales not three to four times larger 



than lateral rows; caudals fewer than 140 3 2. Escamas vertebrales no tres cuatro veces 



Vertebral scales three to four times larger mayores que las laterales; caudales menos de 



than lateral rows; caudals more than 140 140 3 



cenchoa Escamas vertebrales tres o cuatro veces mayores 

 que las laterales; caudales mas de 140- cenchoa 



3. Dorsal pattern of inconspicuous spots on back; 3- Diseno dorsal de manchas inconspTcuas sobre la 

 ventrals fewer than 223 i noma tus hilera mediana; ventrales menos de 223- 



Dorsal pattern of large dark blotches; ventrals i noma tus 



more than 223 qemm i stratus Diseno dorsal con manchas oscuras d i f erenc iadas; 



ventrales mas de 223 qemm i s tra tus 



IMANTODES CENCHOA (Linnaeus) 



1758 Coluber Cenchoa Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, Ed, 10: 226. Type-locality: America. 



1810 Bunqaruscencoalt Oppel (error for cenchoa Linnaeus), Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, I6: 392. 



1826 D.[ i psas j We i qel i i Fitzinger (substitute name for cenchoa Wied, which is same as cenchoa 



Linnaeus), Neue Classification der Reptilien: 59* 

 1853 I .[ mantodes ] cenchoa — Dumeril, Mem. Acad. Sci. Paris, 23: 5O7. 



Distribution: Isthmus of Tehuantepec region of Mexico through Central America and South America to 

 Paraguay and Bolivia. 



Content: Three subspecies. 



Key to the subspecies Clave de subespecies 



1. More than 248 ventrals 2 1. Mas de 248 ventrales 2 



Fewer than 245 ventrals leucomelas Menos de 245 ventrales leucomelas 



2. Venter light, dotted and spotted with dark- 2. Vientre claro punteado y manchado de 



er pi gment cenchoa oscuro cenchoa 



Venter light, no darker pigmentation at all Vientre claro, sin punteado ni manchado 



sem if asc ia tus sem if asc iatus 



I mantodes cenchoa cenchoa Linnaeus 



1899 Himantodes platycephalus Cope. Phila. Mus. Sci. Bull., 1: 15, pi. 4, fig. 4a-d. Type- 

 locality: "Colombia; presumably near Bogota" [from label with typej. 

 1942 [ Imantodes cenchoa ] cenchoa — Smi th, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 52: 384. 



Distribution: Panama; northern South America, to Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina; Trinidad. 



