Common names: western pigmy rattlesnake, Strecker's pigmy rattlesnake, more.

Sistrurus miliarius streckeri is a venomous

Venomous snake

"Poisonous snake" redirects here. For true poisonous snakes, see Rhabdophis.Venomous snakes are snakes which have venom glands and specialized teeth for the injection of venom...

 pitviper

Crotalinae

The Crotalinae, commonly known as "pit vipers" or crotaline snakes, are a subfamily of venomous vipers found in Asia and the Americas. They are distinguished by the presence of a heat-sensing pit organ located between the eye and the nostril on either side of the head...

 subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 found in the south-central United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Description

Adult specimens are 40-63 cm in length. In one study, the average length of 55 males and 49 females was 52 cm.

Its color pattern is distinct and very irregular, the middorsal series of blotches being plainly wider than they are long. Along the sides there are only 1-2 series of spots, the upper ones being higher than they are wide. Any dark pigment on the belly is diffuse, the blotches there usually not being wider than one scale. This race also has the lowest number of ventral scales

Ventral scales

In snakes, the ventral scales are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down the underside of the body from the neck to the anal scale. When counting them, the first is the anteriormost ventral scale that contacts the paraventral row of dorsal scales on either side...

 for the species (Gloyd, 1935).

Common names

Ground rattlesnake, pigmy rattlesnake, southern pigmy rattlesnake, Strecker's pigmy rattlesnake, western ground rattlesnake, western pigmy rattlesnake.

Geographic range

Found in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

 (except for southeast of the Pearl River Valley), west through Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 into eastern Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and north into southeastern Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

, southern Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 and southwestern Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. The type locality listed is "... near Imboden, Lawrence County, Arkansas" (USA).

External links

• Western Pigmy Rattlesnake at Snakes of Arkansas. Accessed 2 March 2007.
• Western Pygmy Rattlesnake at Houston Herpetological Supply. Accessed 2 March 2007.