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Lampropeltis elapsoides (HOLBROOK, 1838)

IUCN Red List - Lampropeltis elapsoides - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Lampropeltini, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Scarlet Kingsnake, Scarlet Milksnake
G: Scarlet-Königsnatter 
SynonymColuber elapsoides HOLBROOK 1838:123
Coluber doliatus LINNAEUS (fide COPE 1860: 256)
Coronella doliata HOLBROOK 1842 (fide COPE 1860: 256)
Calamaria elapsoides — HOLBROOK 1842: 119
Ophibolus doliatus — BAIRD & GIRARD 1853: 89
Osceola elapsoides — BAIRD & GIRARD 1853: 133
Coronella doliata — DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 621
Lampropeltis doliata — COPE 1860: 256
Coronella doliata — JAN 1865
Ophibolus doliatus coccineus — YARROW 1883: 90
Ophibolus doliatus coccineus — COPE 1893: 1067
Ophibolus doliatus temporalis COPE 1893: 1068
Osceola doliata — COPE 1900: 881
Osceola doliata doliata — COPE 1900: 889
Osceola doliata temporalis — COPE 1900: 889
Osceola elapsoidea — COPE 1900: 900
Ophibolus doliatus triangulus — LARGELAMB 1907
Lampropeltis triangulum virginiana BLANCHARD 1920
Lampropeltis elapsoides elapsoides — BLANCHARD 1921: 206
Lampropeltis elapsoides virginiana — BLANCHARD 1921: 217
Lampropeltis elapsoides elapsoides — ALLEN 1932
Lampropeltis triangulum doliata — TAYLOR 1951
Lampropeltis elapsoides virginiana — COCHRAN 1961: 188
Lampropeltis triangulum temporalis — COCHRAN 1961: 188
Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 210
Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides — WILLIAMS 1994: 6
Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides — CROTHER 2000: 64
Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides — TENNANT & BARTLETT 2000: 429
Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides — MATTISON 2007: 133
Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides — JENSEN et al. 2008: 364
Lampropeltis elapsoides — PYRON & BURBRINK 2009
Lampropeltis elapsoides — CROTHER et al. 2012
Lampropeltis elapsoides — RUANE et al. 2014
Lampropeltis elapsoides — WALLACH et al. 2014: 357
Lampropeltis elapsoides — GUYER et al. 2018
Lampropeltis elapsoides — CHAMBERS et al. 2022 
DistributionUSA (N Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, S Florida (incl. St. George Island, Apalachicola Island [HR 31: 114]), Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, S Kentucky)

Type locality, "South Carolina and Georgia.”  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: unknown (WILLIAMS 1994)
Holotype: USNM 21163 [virginiana] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 653 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentPhylogenetics: Lampropeltis elapsoides is clearly paraphyletic with respect to L. triangulum and therefore needs to be elevated to species status (PYRON & BURBRINK 2009).

Synonymy: partly after WILLIAMS 1994. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin Elaps, snake genus due to Schneider, 1801 (see) + Greek -oides (-οειδής), suffix indicating likeness. [“...The ground of the colour of the body is a beautiful red, surrounded by eighteen jet black rings; in the centre of each of these is a narrow white ring...”]. 
References
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  • Alvis, Cameron and John B. Jensen. 2016. Geographic Distribution: Lampropeltis elapsoides (Scarlet Kingsnake). Herpetological Review 47 (2): 262 - get paper here
  • Baird, S. F. and C. Girard. 1853. Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part 1.-Serpents. Smithsonian Inst., Washington, xvi + 172 pp. - get paper here
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  • Blanchard, Frank N. 1921. A revision of the king snakes: genus Lampropeltis. Bull. US Natl. Mus. (114): 1-260 - get paper here
  • Brimley, C.S. 1920. Notes on Lampropeltis elapsoides virginiana Blanchard Copeia 89: 106-109. - get paper here
  • BURBRINK, FRANK T.; JUSTIN M. BERNSTEIN, ARIANNA KUHN, MARCELO GEHARA & SARA RUANE. 2022. Ecological Divergence and the History of Gene Flow in the Nearctic Milksnakes (Lampropeltis triangulum Complex). Systematic Biology 71(4): 839–858. - get paper here
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  • Holbrook, John E. 1838. North American Herpetology, Vol. 2 (1st ed.). J. Dobson, Philadelphia, 130 pp. - get paper here
  • Holbrook, John E. 1842. North American Herpetology; or, A description of the reptiles inhabiting the United States. Vol I (2nd ed.). J. Dobson, Philadelphia, 152 pp. - get paper here
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  • Pyron, R.Alexander; Frank T. Burbrink 2009. Neogene diversification and taxonomic stability in the snake tribe Lampropeltini (Serpentes: Colubridae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 52 (2): 524-529 - get paper here
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