Lampropeltis micropholis COPE, 1860
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Lampropeltis micropholis
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Colubrinae, Lampropeltini, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Ecuadorian Milksnake S: Falsa coral interandina |
| Synonym | Lampropeltis micropholis COPE 1860: 258 Coronella micropholis — BARBOUR & COLE 1906: 152 Coronella micropholis — DESPAX 1910: 370 Lampropeltis triangulum gaigeae DUNN 1937: 9 Lampropeltis triangulum gaigae — SLEVIN 1942: 474 Lampropeltis triangulum gaigae — BARBOUR & LOVERIDGE 1946 (in error) Lampropeltis doliata gaigeae — TAYLOR 1951: 104 Lampropeltis doliata micropholis — MERTENS 1956 Lampropeltis doliata gaigeae — SMITH 1958: 223 Lampropeltis doliata micropholis — PETERS 1960 Lampropeltis triangulum micropholis — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970 Lampropeltis triangulum andesiana WILLIAMS 1978: 231 Lampropeltis triangulum gaigae — MEHRTENS 1987: 129 Lampropeltis triangulum andesiana — WILLIAMS 1994 Lampropeltis triagulum gaigae — FRANK 1994: 22 (in error) Lampropeltis triangulum andesiana — BARRIO & NAVARRETE 1999 Lampropeltis triangulum micropholis — KORNACKER 1999: 93 Lampropeltis triangulum micropholis — CARRERA et al. 2009 Lampropeltis triangulum micropholis — GABIROT et al. 2012 Lampropeltis triangulum gaigeae — LILLYWHITE 2014: 133 Lampropeltis micropholis — RUANE et al. 2014 Lampropeltis andesiana — NATERA-MUMAW et al. 2015: 73 Lampropeltis polyzona — CHAMBERS & HILLIS 2019 Lampropeltis micropholis — CURLIS et al. 2020 |
| Distribution | E Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador; possibly Venezuela formerly recognized subspecies of L. triangulum are now included in L. micropholis: andesiana: Huila (Colombia), Venezuela (Tachira, Mérida) [HR 30: 174]); Type locality,"the hills near Cali, Valle, Colombia." gaigae: mountains in Costa Rica, Panamá; Type locality: Chiriqui, Boquete, Panama. micropholis: Costa Rica, Panamá, Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador; Type locality: Panama. Introduced to the Galapagos Islands. |
| Reproduction | oviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: ANSP 3427 (micropholis) Holotype: USNM 151732 [andesiana] Holotype: UMMZ 57967, adult male collected 24 March 1924 by H.T. Gaige [gaigae] |
| Diagnosis | |
| Comment | Synonymy after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970, WILLIAMS 1994, and RUANE et al. 2014. Listed as synonym of Lampropeltis triangulum by WALLACH et al. 2014: 359. Chambers and Hillis 2019 consider L. abnorma and L. micropholis as populations within L. polyzona, i.e. “a monophyletic cluster with little resolution.” (but see apparently allopatric distribution in their Figure 3c). Distribution: The occurrence of Lampropeltis triangulum in Venezuela was reported by Roze (1966) and subsequent workers (Lancini 1979; Kornacker 1999) as the subspecies L. t. micropholis. Barrio and Navarrete (1999) clarified the subspecies identity of the Venezuelan specimens and considered them to belong to L. t. andesiana [cited after RIVAS et al. 2012]. See map in Chambers and Hillis 2019: 190 (Fig. 3). Mimicry: Lampropeltis triangulum mimicks Micrurus bernadi, M. limbatus and M. diastema (TORRE-LORANCA et al. 2006). Similar species: Erythrolamprus bizona; see also mimicry with Micrurus. |
| Etymology | The name microphol$ is derived from the Greek mikros, meaning "small," and the Greek pholis, meaning "scale", apparently in reference to the small dorsal scales of this form. The name gaigeae is a patronym honoring Helen T. Gaige, who collected the type. The name andesiana is derived from the word Andes, in reference to the mountains in which the form occurs, plus the collective plural suffix -iana. |
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