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Lampropeltis elapsoides (HOLBROOK, 1838)

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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 — 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] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (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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  • Allen, Morrow J. 1932. A survey of the Amphibians and reptiles of Harrison County, Mississippi. American Museum Novitates (542): 1-20 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Blanchard, Frank N. 1920. Three new snakes of the genus Lampropeltis. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (81): 1-10 - get paper here
  • Blanchard, Frank N. 1920. A synopsis of the king snakes: Genus Lampropeltis Fitzinger. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (87): 1-7 - 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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  • Enge, Kevin M. and Kenneth D. Benfield. 2015. Lampropeltis elapsoides (scarlet kingsnake) size record. Herpetological Review 46 (2): 209 - get paper here
  • ENGE, KEVIN M.; COLEMAN M. SHEEHY III, ANDREW DUPUIS, JENNIFER HOWZE, MATTHEW R. GACHENY, KARL GUYTON II & E. PIERSON HILL. 2021. LAMPROPELTIS ELAPSOIDES (Scarlet Kingsnake). PHENOTYPIC ABERRANCIES. Herpetological Review 52 (3): 669. - 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
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  • Holbrook, John E. 1842. North American Herpetology; or, A description of the reptiles inhabiting the United States. Vol II (2nd ed.). J. Dobson, Philadelphia, 142 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
  • Ruane, Sara; Robert W. Bryson, Jr., R. Alexander Pyron, and Frank T. Burbrink 2014. Coalescent Species Delimitation in Milksnakes (genus Lampropeltis) and Impacts on Phylogenetic Comparative Analyses. Systematic Biology 63 (2): 231-250, doi:10.1093/sysbio/syt099 - get paper here
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