AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA OF COLORADO 87 



largest; inferior labials, 10 or sometimes 9. Ventrals, about 160, 

 145-180. Genials 1.25 to 1.5 in the postgenials. Tail one-fifth to 

 one-third of the total length. 



General color olive brown, red brown or almost black; ventral 

 parts grayish yellow, greenish or bluish. A mid-dorsal stripe, varying 

 from lemon yellow to light green or blue in color, beginning in or just 

 posterior to the angle of the parietal plates and continuing to the tip 

 of the tail, covering more or less completely the three mid-dorsal rows 

 of scales in the anterior and middle portion of the body and narrowing 

 so as to cover only parts of two rows in the tail region. A lateral 

 stripe of pale yellow, blue or green, covering completely or in part the 

 second and third rows of scales, beginning rather indistinctly just back 

 of the angle of the jaw and continuing to the anal region or beyond, 

 in the tail region covering but a single row of scales or a single row 

 and a part of another. Space between the dorsal and lateral stripes 

 dark, pattern indistinctly made up of two rows of black or dark green 

 spots, the upper series of which is usually fused into a dark stripe 

 along each side of the dorsal stripe, lower series quite distinct, the 

 spots alternating with smaller areas of the brick red ground color. 

 First row of scales and the upper edges of the ventrals dusky or even 

 dark, usually giving the lower edge of the lateral stripe sharp defini- 

 tion. Two small pale spots often confluent, on the parietals near 

 or on their mesial edges. Top of the head brownish or blackish, 

 lighter in the rostral region. 



The food of this species is probably much the same as that of 

 Thamnophis radix. It is known to eat earthworms, insects, frogs and 

 toads. These animals are the common types of food offered in the 

 swampy places frequented by this snake. It is, however, occasionally 

 taken some distance from water. Little is known concerning the 

 breeding habits of this species. Ruthven 1 records a large female from 

 Iowa giving birth to seventy-three young late in September. 



Thamnophis parietalis ranges from the Mississippi River to the 

 Pacific Ocean, south to Oklahoma and north into Canada. It is most 

 abundant in the western half of its range. 



■ V.S.N.1I. Bull. 61, p. 167, iqo8. 



