2 20 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



of from 27 to 33 large, black or brown, irregular dorsal blotches and 

 2 series of smaller lateral blotches on each side; belly white: southern 

 New Jersey to the Gulf; often abundant in pine woods. 



P. sayi (Schlegel) (Fig. 120). Length 1,550 mm.; tail 200 mm.; 

 greatest length 2,600 mm.; color reddish yellow, with a series of large, 

 square brown or black dorsal blotches, and a series of smaller blotches 

 on each side; abdomen yellow, with a row of black spots on each side: 

 prairie States between the Mississippi River and the Rockies; very 

 common towards the south; the largest American snake. 



P. catenifer (Blainville). Length 1,400 mm.; tail 240 mm.; color 

 yellowish brown, with a series of about 100 small square, reddish brown 

 or black dorsal spots and a series of more or less obscure spots on each 

 side ; belly yellowish white with 2 series of spots : Pacific slope west of 

 the Sierra Navada and the Cascades; desert regions of southern Cah- 

 fornia and Nevada; common. 



14. Arizona Kennicott. Large snakes with a rostral plate recurved 

 and extending between the internasals; scales smooth; anal plate 

 single: 2 species. 



A. elegans Kenn. Length 918 mm.; tail 145 mm.; color grayish 

 brown, crossed by 55 to 65 transverse brown spots in front of the anus; 

 belly whitish, unspotted; scales in 29 to 31 rows: along the Mexican 

 border; northward into Oklahoma and Arkansas. 



15. Leimadophis Fitzinger. Small snakes with smooth scales in 17 

 rows; ventrals 125; upper labials 7: many species in Mexico and 

 Central America, i in the United States. 



L. flavilatus (Cope). Length 300 mm.; tail 90 mm.; color golden 

 brown; abdomen yellowish white: North Carolina to Florida; 

 terrestrial. 



16. Lampropeltis Fitzinger. King-snakes. Non-poisonous, con- 

 strictor snakes with smooth scales in 19 to 27 rows; colors often bright, 

 arranged usually in transverse bands: about 12 species, all American, 

 9 in the United States; terrestrial, feeding on rodents and other small 

 animals, including snakes, being immune to the bites of poisonous ones. 



Key to the Species of Lampropeltis 



ai Ground color black, with usually narrow transverse color 



bands L. geluliis. 



a2 Ground color pale, with large, red or brown blotches. 



bi Blotches wide and long, making up most of the color 



pattern L. triangulum. 



b2 Blotches small, oblong. 



Ci Scales in 23 rows L. rhombomaculata. 



