Description: Most adult South Florida Mole Kingsnakes are about 30 to 42 inches in total length. Adults are gray, brown, or tan with at least 75 black-bordered reddish-brown blotches down the body and tail. Older individuals may be almost solid brown. The neck is indistinct, and there is sometimes a dark line through the eye. There is a network of dark lines on the back of the head. Juveniles are similar in appearance to adults but more vivid and with a silvery ground color.

Habitat: South Florida Mole Kingsnakes have been found in pinelands, hardwood hammocks, prairies, cattle pastures, and agricultural fields. These highly secretive snakes are primarily burrowers and are rarely seen.

Range: South Florida Mole Kingsnakes are known to occur only in the peninsula from Brevard County south to Lake Okeechobee and west to Charlotte and DeSoto counties. It is not found outside of Florida.

Found in these States: FL

Diet: South Florida Mole Kingsnakes commonly feed on lizards, snakes, and small mammals. Prey are typically killed by constriction.

Reproduction: Little is known of the reproductive biology of South Florida Mole Kingsnakes given that no natural nests have been recorded. But data from closely-related Northern Mole Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis rhombomaculata) suggest that females would lay around 3 to 16 eggs, which would hatch between July and August. The eggs are likely laid in underground burrows, loose soil, and piles of debris.

Status: Exists only in an isolated, relatively small region that has already experienced extreme habitat degradation, mostly from agriculture. Further loss of suitable habitat is expected to accompany climate change and human population growth in southern Florida.

Taxonomy: Taxonomic Swap Committed on 10-11-2022 - Lampropeltis calligaster occipitolineata replaced with Lampropeltis occipitolineata./p>