REPTILES 217 



b2 Color brown, at least posteriorly • C. flagellum. 



aj Body striped. 



bi A yellow stripe on each side C. lateralis. 



b2 Four or five stripes on each side C. tceniafus. 



C. constrictor L. Blacksnake; blue racer; hoop snake (Fig. 115). 

 Body slender; length 1,700 mm.; tail 449 mm.; greatest length 2, 200 mm.; 

 color slaty or blue-black above, greenish black to yellow beneath ; chin 

 and throat white; ventrals about 180; young animals (500 mm. long) 

 gray in color with dorsal transverse bars and lateral spots : entire country. 



Subspecies of C. constrictor 



C. c. constrictor L. Belly black: eastern and central States; west- 

 ward to the Great Plains; common. 



C. c. flaviventris Say. Belly yellow: from the Mississippi to the 

 Pacific; common. 



C. flagellufn Shaw. Whip snake. Body very slender, 2,000 mm. 

 long; tail 500 mm.; color yellowish brown to dark brown, being darker 

 anteriorly; abdomen white or yellow, more or less blotched with brown 

 anteriorly; ventrals about 190; young animals with dorsal blotches: 

 southern States from Virginia to California; common. 



C. lateralis (Hallowell). Length 665 mm.; tail 250 mm.; color 

 brown above with a yellow stripe on each side, yellow below; head 

 somewhat spotted; ventrals about 200: southern California. 



C. tceniatus (Hallowell). Body very slender, 1,280 mm. long; 

 tail 400 mm.; color black, with many yellow lines on the sides; belly 

 white, but pink on the tail; throat spotted with black: Idaho and Utah, 

 southward to Texas and southern California; often common. 



II. Elaphe Wagler {Coluber Aut.). Large, non-venomous snakes 

 with a flat, blunt head; dorsal scales with slight keels; lateral scales 

 smooth; scales in 25 to 29 rows: about 20 species in North America 

 and Europe and Asia; 8 species in the United States. 



Key to the Species of Elaphe 



El Body striped; no spots E. quadrivittata. 



3.2 Body uniform in color or spotted. 



bi Scales smooth or with a few rows of dorsal scales weakly 

 keeled. 



Ci Neck spots H-shaped E. Iceta. 



C2 Neck spots not H-shaped E. guttata. 



bj Scales with at least 9 dorsal rows keeled. 

 Ci Body spotted or blotched. 



