26 BULLETII^ 114, TJNITED STATES NATIOITAL. MUSEUM. 



THE GETULUS GROUP. 

 LAMPROPELTIS GETULUS SPLENDIDA (Baird and Girard). 



KING SNAKE. 



Figs. 1, 3, 29, 30, 31. 



1853. Ophibolus splendidus Baird and Girard, Cat. N. Amer. Rept., pt. 1, p. 83 

 (type locality, Sonora, Mexico; type specimen, U.S.N.M., no. 1726; 

 J. D. Graham, collector). — ^Baird, U. S. and Mex. Bound. Surv., 1859, 

 p. 20, pi. 14; Pacif. R. R. Surv., vol. 10, pt. 3, art. 1, 1859, pi. 30, fig. 58; 

 vol. 10, pt. 6, a,rt. 4, 1859, p. 43.— Strecker, Baylor Univ. Bull., vol. 18, 

 no. 4, 1915, p. 39. — Lampropeltis splendida Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Philadelphia, 1860, p. 255. — Van Denbtjrgh, Proc. California Acad. 

 Sci., ser. 2, vol. 6, 1896, p. 347. — Stejneger and Barbour, Check List, 

 1917, p. 89. — Coronella splendida Jan, Ai-ch. Zool. Anat., vol. 2, fasc. 2, 

 1863, pp. 238, 245. 



1853. Ophibolus sayi Baird and Girard, Cat. N. Amer. Rept., p. 85 (Red. R., 

 Arkansas), p. 159 (Eagle Pass, Tex.). — Marcy, Explor. Red R., p. 199, 

 1854, pi. 7.— Cope, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1888, p. 398 (San Diego, Texas), 



1875. Ophibolus getulu^ splendidus Cope, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., no. 1, p. 37. — 

 CouES, Rep. Geog. Geol. Explor. Sm-v. W. 100th Mer., vol. 5, chap. 5, 

 1875, p. 619.— Yarrow, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., no. 24, 1882, p. 93.— 

 G ARM an, Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 8, no. 3, pt. 1, 1883, p. 157. — 

 Cope, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 14, 1891, p. 613; Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus. 

 for 1898, 1900, p. 918. — Lampropeltis getulus splendidus Wright, Proc. 

 Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, 1915. p. 148. 



1901. Ophibolus getulus sayi Brown, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, p. 77; 

 same, 1903, p. 550. 



Description. — ^This form is nearest to the ancestral stock of the 

 getulus group. Although represented by relatively few specimens, 

 these are well distributed over its range, thus presenting a fair 

 conception of the species. The scalation may be summarized as 

 follows: Ventral plates, 207 to 225; caudals, 43 to 56; supralabials, 7, 

 occasionally 8; infralabials, 9, sometimes 10, rarely 11; oculars, 

 1 and 2; temporals, 2+3+4; posterior chin shields shorter than 

 anterior, parallel, and separated from each other by one or two 

 small scales; loreal about as high as long, or longer than high; dorsal 

 scale rows usually 23-21-19, or 21-23-21-19, although 23-25- 

 23-21-19 is not uncommon in the western part of its range. 



The proportions are the same as for the other forms of the getulus 

 group, namely: body cylindrical; sides meeting the belly at a 

 rounded angle; head scarcely distinct from neck; body tapering 

 slightly toward the head and toward the tail; tail short, tapering 

 to a homy tip, varying from 0.100 to 0.150 of the total length (males 

 average, 0.130; females, 0.120). Adults are commonly from 75 to 

 115 cm. in length. The largest examined was from Bexar County, 

 Texas, and measured 1,432 millimeters. 



The color pattern is, briefly: Black, spotted on the sides with 

 white or yellow, one spot on each scale; across the back about 70 



