Red-Bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata)
Description: S. occipitomaculata is a small woodland species that usually measures 4 to 10 inches in total length (including tail). Its dorsal color ranges from orange to gray, black, or brown. It can be distinguished from other species by its bright red or orange underbelly. Many individuals have a light brown ring behind the head.
Habitat: S. occipitomaculata prefers warmer habitats, and in the more northern limits of its range will inhabit abandoned ant mounds. These mounds absorb solar radiation and are insulated which allows for a longer active season. This species, with large eyes and a kinetic skull, is not able to burrow on its own effectively, and abandoned ant mounds allow it access to a warm retreat. Individuals of this species can be found under logs and leafy debris due to its secretive nature.
Range: This species occurs widely in the east of the United States, extending into southern Canada. Its range extends from Nova Scotia to southeastern Saskatchewan, and south to southeastern Texas, the Gulf Coast, and central Florida; isolated population in the Black Hills, Wyoming-South Dakota.
Diet: The red-bellied snake, like other members of its genus, preys primarily on slugs. Its teeth are slender and distally curved to better catch slimy prey.
Reproduction: Studies of the redbelly snake have determined that it reproduces annually, and females have been found to be gravid during spring and early summer. While body size varies throughout the redbelly snake's geographic range, the average clutch size tends to remain the same with an average of 7 to 9 eggs per clutch. The redbelly snake begins mating at around two years of age and must be a minimum of 8.7 inches in order to reach sexual maturity.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a degree of habitat modification, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
»» Order: Squamata - Scaled Reptiles
»» Suborder: Serpentes
»» Superfamily: Colubroidea
»» Family: Colubridae - Colubrids
»» Genus: Storeria
»» Species: Storeria occipitomaculata - Red-Bellied Snake
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Storeria occipitomaculata", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
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