198 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



Leimadophis Fitzinger 



Leimadophis stahli Stejneger 



Twenty-four specimens of this species were collected at Aibonito, Baya- 

 mon, and Ensenada. Leimadophis stahli is confined to Porto Kico, re- 

 placed by a vicarious form, L. exiguus, in the Virgin Islands, and closely 

 related to the Hispaniolan L. parvifrons. 



The range in number of ventral plates is slightly greater in this series 

 than in Stejneger's — 146-166 in twenty-three specimens. The subcaudals 

 range from 83-94. The sexes are scarcely distinguishable by these char- 

 acters. The tail length varies from .29 to .34 of the total length (.29-.31 

 in $ , .32-,34 in $ specimens). The scales about the body are uniformly 

 19-19-17. The lower labials are nine (eight in the original description). 

 Freshly hatched specimens show the color pattern most distinctly, espe- 

 cially the median black marking on the head. The largest specimen, a 

 female, measures 580 mm.; tail, 178 mm. 



Eggs of this species were found in three places : under a log in a pas- 

 ture and under an old termite nest in a coffee plantation at Aibonito and 

 in the loose soil under a stump at Bayamon. One lot contained seven 

 eggs, one thirteen, and one forty. Six well-developed eggs were found in 

 the adult female staying with the largest number. The eggs in this place 

 were in three lots : eighteen old and discolored, in two clusters ; six loose, 

 somewhat different in appearance; and two clusters of six and ten eggs 

 very fresh and white. Examination of the eggs showed that they con- 

 tained embryos at at least three stages, the fresher eggs having scarcely 

 begun development, the oldest containing embryos nearly ready to hatch. 

 The eggs found under the termite nest were also in two clusters — one of 

 seven eggs, with advanced embryos, the other of six, with no apparent 

 development. The older eggs are slightly larger, ranging from 21 to 25 

 mm. in length and from 12 to 15 mm. in diameter. The surface is finely 

 striate, very white in the fresher specimens. It appears that the aduH 

 females of this species take up a location from which they do not wandei 

 far, and in which they lay successive batches of eggs, from six to eighteen 

 (?) in number. The largest "nest" contained the remains of still older 

 eggs, which were either infertile or from which the young had hatched. 

 The eggs are laid in clusters of six to ten, the individual eggs adhering 

 firmly to the mass. The rate of reproduction is evidently fairly rapid. 



