Midwestern worm snake

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Carphophis
Species:
C. amoenus
Subspecies:
C. a. helenae
Trinomial name
Carphophis amoenus helenae
Synonyms[3]
  • Celuta helenae
    Kennicott, 1859
  • Carphophis amoena var. Helenae
    — Jan, 1865
  • Carphophis amoena helenae
    — Conant, 1938
  • Carphophis amoenus helenae
    — Conant & Collins, 1991

The midwestern worm snake, Carphophis amoenus helenae, a subspecies of C. amoenus, is a nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The subspecies is endemic to the Midwest and Southern United States.[4][5]

Etymology

The subspecific name, helenae, is in honor of "Miss Helen Tennison", a misspelling of the name of Robert Kennicott's cousin Helen L. Teunisson. Tenuisson collected specimens for and with Kennicott in Mississippi.[6][7][8]

Common names

Additional common names for C. a. helenae include central twig snake, central worm snake, ground snake, Helen's snake, Helen Tennison's snake, Helen's worm snake, red snake, and worm snake.[9]

Geographic range

The subspecies C. a. helenae ranges from southern Ohio to northern Georgia in the east and from southern Illinois to eastern Louisiana in the west.[10]

Description

When adult, C. a. helenae is small and wormlike, rarely growing longer than 9.8 in (25 cm) in total length (including tail). It is plain dark brown on top and light pink on its underside.[4]

The scalation on the anterior dorsal surface of the head is distinctive. Instead of having a pair of internasals and a pair of prefrontals, as are found in most snakes including other subspecies of C. amoenus, the midwestern worm snake has each internasal fused with its corresponding prefrontal. As a result, in the space between the rostral and the frontal, C. a. helenae has two large head shields, one on the left and one on the right, instead of the usual four smaller shields.[9][10]

Behavior, diet, and habitat

The midwestern worm snake is fossorial. It spends its life burrowing in moist soil or under the leaf litter searching for soft-bodied prey, with a preference for earthworms. This secretive snake prefers mesic deciduous forest.[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ NatureServe (5 May 2023). "Carphophis amoenus helenae". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "Carphophis amoenus helenae ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
  3. ↑ "Carphophis amoenus ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  4. 1 2 3 "Midwestern Wormsnake". ODNR Division of Wildlife. Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Snakes in Alabama". Outdoor Alabama. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on May 27, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Helen L Teunisson". www.familysearch.org. 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  7. ↑ Beltz, Ellin (2006). Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America – Explained. http://ebeltz.net/herps/biogappx.html.
  8. ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Helen T.", p. 120.)
  9. 1 2 Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in two volumes)., 305 figures, 70 maps. (Carphophis amoenus helenae, pp. 108-110, Figure 34 + Map 12 on p. 105).
  10. 1 2 Conant R (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. + Plates 1-48. ISBN 0-395-19979-4 (hardcover), ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Carphophis amoenus helenae, p. 175 + Map 131).

Further reading

  • Behler JL, King FW (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp., 657 plates. ISBN 0-394-50824-6. (Carphophis amoenus helenae, p. 592).
  • Conant R, Bridges W (1939). What Snake Is That? A Field Guide to the Snakes of the United States East of the Rocky Mountains. (With 108 Drawings by Edmond Malnate). New York and London: D. Appleton-Century Company. Frontispiece map + viii + 163 pp. + Plates A-C, 1-32. (Carphophis amoena helenae, p. 31 + Plate 2, figure 5A).
  • Kennicott R (1859). "Notes on Coluber calligaster of Say, and a description of new species of Serpents in the collection of the North Western University of Evanston, Ill[inois]". Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia [11]: 98-100. (Celuta helenæ, new species, p. 100).
  • Powell R, Conant R, Collins JT (2016). Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 47 plates, 207 figures. ISBN 978-0-544-12997-9. (Carphophis amoenus helenae, pp. 401-402, Figure 186).
  • Schmidt KP, Davis DD (1941). Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp. (Carphophis amoena helenae, pp. 102-103).
  • Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. ISBN 0-307-13666-3 (paperback), ISBN 0-307-47009-1 (hardcover). (Carphophis amoenus helenae, p. 162).
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