113 



Key to the Indiana Species of Eutainia. 



A. Scales iu 19 rowis. 



a. Lateral stripe covering two rows of scales. 



b. Lateral stripe on third and fourth rows of scales. 



c. Very slender. Tail about one-third the total length. 



saurita, p. 113. 

 CO. Stouter. Tail one-fourth or less of the total. 



radix, p. 115. 

 bb. Lateral stripe on second and third rows of scales. 



sirtcdis, p. 117. 

 aa. Lateral stripe covering three rows, second, third and fourth, 



butlerii, p. 120. 

 A A. Scales in twenty-one rows (sometimes). radix, p. 113. 



Eutainia saurita, (Linn.). 

 Ribbon Snake. 



Coluber saurita, Linuseus, 1766, 64, ed. xii, i, 385 ; Leptophis sauritm, 

 Holbrook, 1842, 54, iii, 21, pi. 4; Eutainia saurita, Baird and Girard, 

 1853, 6, 24 ; E. faireyi and E. proxima, Baird and Girard, 1853, 6, 25 ; 

 Tropidonotus sauritus, Garman, 1883, 13, 23, pi. 3. fig. 2. 



An elongated species, with a slender neck, and a tail that forms from 

 a little more to a little less than a third the total length. Crown-shields 

 normal. Loral elongated. Nasal distinctly divided, with the nostril 

 between them. Anteorbital 1, high. Upper labials 7 or 8. Lower 

 labials 10, fifth and sixth large. Scales distinctly keeled, and disposed 

 in 19 rows. Ventrals 150 to 180. Subcaudals 100 to 120. 



The color above consists of a light chocolate to black ground, relieved 

 by three stripes of greenish white or yellow. The dorsal stripe lies on 

 the median row of scales and the adjacent half of the next row on each 

 side. The lateral stripes lie on the third and fourth rows above the 

 belly. The abdominal surface is greenish white, without markings or 

 spots of any kind. 



Three varieties of this species are here recognized, saurita, faireyi and 

 proxima. These are still regarded by most American writers as distinct 

 species, but I have been unable to find any characters by which the 

 many connecting forms may be satisfactorily distributed. Prof Cope, 

 in his most recent publication (3, xiv, 646, 650), unites faireyi with 

 nroxima, and distinguishes these from saurita by their having 8 upper 

 labials instead of 7. It is doubtful if this will hold s^ood. 



