The Eastern Box Turtle, 
Terrapene c. Carolina (Testudines: Emydidae), 
in North Carolina 1 
Michael D. Stuart 2 and Grover C. Miller 
Department of Zoology, 
North Carolina State University, 
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7617 
ABSTRACT . — One hundred and four eastern box turtles, Terrapene 
Carolina Carolina , were collected in North Carolina, primarily from the 
Piedmont. Baseline data were collected on weight, population sex and 
age structure, seasonal distribution, reproduction, and food habits. 
These data add to the information on the ecology and life history of 
this common reptile in North Carolina. 
The eastern box turtle, Terrapene Carolina (L.) (Testudines: Emy- 
didae), is a terrestrial turtle found throughout the eastern half of the 
United States. Four of the six recognized subspecies occur within the 
United States with the subspecies T. c. Carolina reported to range from 
southern Maine to Georgia and west to Tennessee and Michigan (Ernst 
and Barbour 1972). The box turtle is widespread in North Carolina, but 
little statewide information has been reported. As part of a dissertation 
project on helminth distribution and life cycles, 104 eastern box turtles 
were collected in North Carolina and surveyed for parasites. Data were 
compiled on these hosts insofar as these factors might affect the type or 
intensity of parasitism. This procedure revealed ecological information 
on the life history of the box turtle in North Carolina. The number of 
individuals removed from the wild was minimized by utilizing road- 
killed specimens. Intact eggs were artificially incubated, and hatchlings 
were released. We report here on sex and size distribution, seasonal 
distribution, habitat, diet, reproduction, and egg incubation of T. c. 
Carolina in North Carolina. The parasites of this host will be published 
in a separate paper. 
MATERIALS AND METHODS 
Box turtles were collected from 10 counties in North Carolina 
between June 1982 and December 1984. Collecting was done primarily 
on the Piedmont Plateau, with small comparative samples taken from 
1 Paper number 10214 of the Journal Series of the North Carolina Agricultural 
Research Service, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7601. 
2 Present address: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at 
Asheville, Asheville, North Carolina 28804. 
Brimleyana No. 13:123-131, July 1987 
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