Storeria
Encyclopedia
Storeria is a genus
of colubrid
snake
s. The genus consists of four species, three of which are known as brown snakes, and the other is known as the redbelly snake. They are found primarily in the United States
and Mexico
but range as far north as southern Canada
, and as far south as Central America
. The genus is named in honor of American physician and zoologist David Humphreys Storer (1804 - 1891).
in color. The brown can vary depending on locale, to be almost a brick red
in color, to nearly black
. They sometimes have a lighter colored stripe down the center of the back, and small black
blotches along the body, and just behind the head. Their underside is usually lighter brown colored, yellow, or in the case of redbelly snakes, reddish in color. They rarely grow beyond 12 inches in length.
One of the best means of identification is by its scales. Snakes in the genus Storeria have keeled scales. On the head there is no loreal scale and the postnasal scale touches the preocular scale. So, there are only two scales between the nasal opening and the eye.
prey, including, earthworm
s, snail
s and slug
s. Their only means of defense are flattening of the body and excretion from the anal scent glands.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of colubrid
Colubrid
A colubrid is a member of the snake family Colubridae. This broad classification of snakes includes about two-thirds of all snake species on earth. The earliest species of the snake family date back to the Oligocene epoch. With 304 genera and 1,938 species, Colubridae is the largest snake family...
snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s. The genus consists of four species, three of which are known as brown snakes, and the other is known as the redbelly snake. They are found primarily in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
but range as far north as southern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and as far south as Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
. The genus is named in honor of American physician and zoologist David Humphreys Storer (1804 - 1891).
Description
As their common name implies, most snakes of the genus Storeria are a variant of brownBrown
Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....
in color. The brown can vary depending on locale, to be almost a brick red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
in color, to nearly black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
. They sometimes have a lighter colored stripe down the center of the back, and small black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
blotches along the body, and just behind the head. Their underside is usually lighter brown colored, yellow, or in the case of redbelly snakes, reddish in color. They rarely grow beyond 12 inches in length.
One of the best means of identification is by its scales. Snakes in the genus Storeria have keeled scales. On the head there is no loreal scale and the postnasal scale touches the preocular scale. So, there are only two scales between the nasal opening and the eye.
Behavior
Within their range, they are a very commonly found species of snake. They are most frequently found under leaf litter or debris piles, and are sometimes turned up during gardening. They consume a variety of invertebrateInvertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
prey, including, earthworm
Earthworm
Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, even though the internal male segments are anterior to the female...
s, snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s and slug
Slug
Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...
s. Their only means of defense are flattening of the body and excretion from the anal scent glands.
Species
- brown snake, Storeria dekayiStoreria dekayiStoreria dekayi, commonly known as the brown snake or De Kay's snake, is a small species of colubrid snake.-Geographic range:...
- Storeria dekayi anomala DugèsAlfredo DugèsAlfredo Dugès ; was a French-born, Mexican physician and naturalist who was born in Montpellier. He was the son of zoologist Antoine Louis Dugès...
, 1888 - Northern brown snake, Storeria dekayi dekayi (HolbrookJohn Edwards HolbrookJohn Edwards Holbrook American zoologist, herpetologist, physician, and naturalist, was born in Beaufort, South Carolina, the son of Silas Holbrook, a teacher, and Mary Edwards....
, 1836) - marsh brown snake, Storeria dekayi limnetes Anderson, 1961
- Storeria dekayi temporalineata Trapido, 1944
- Texas brown snake, Storeria dekayi texana Trapido, 1944
- Storeria dekayi tropica CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1885 - Florida brown snake, Storeria dekayi victa O.P. HayOliver Perry HayOliver Perry Hay was an American professor, herpetologist, ichthyologist, and paleontologist. From 1894-1895 he worked at the Field Museum of Natural History as Assistant Curator of Zoology where, despite his specialty in ichthyology, he worked in all non-ornithological fields of zoology...
, 1892 - Midland brown snake, Storeria dekayi wrightorum Trapido, 1944
- Storeria dekayi anomala Dugès
- Mexican yellowbelly brown snake, Storeria hidalgoensis Taylor, 1942
- redbelly snake, Storeria occipitomaculataStoreria occipitomaculataThe redbelly snake is a species of snake found in North America. The following subspecies are known:*Florida redbelly snake - Storeria occipitomaculata obscura Trapido, 1944...
(Storer, 1839)- Florida redbelly snake, Storeria occipitomaculata obscura Trapido, 1944
- Northern redbelly snake, Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculataStoreria occipitomaculata occipitomaculataThe Northern redbelly snake is a nonvenomous snake in the Colubridae family, a subspecies of Storeria occipitomaculata.-Geographic range:...
(Storer, 1839) - Black Hills redbelly snake, Storeria occipitomaculata pahasapae H.M. SmithHobart M. SmithHobart Muir Smith, born Frederick William Stouffer , is an American herpetologist. He was born in Stanwood, Iowa, United States. He has been credited with describing several new species of North American reptiles and amphibians...
, 1963
- Mexican brown snake, Storeria storerioides (CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1866)