The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michoacan, Mexico Part 21

~Leptodeira maculata~ (Hallowell)

_Megalops maculatus_ Hallowell, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.

Philadelphia, 13:488, March 31, 1862.--"Tahiti." Type locality restricted to Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico, by Duellman (1958a:54).

_Leptodeira maculata_, Duellman, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.

Hist., 114:53, February 24, 1958.

Aguililla (2); Apatzingan (24); Arteaga (2); Capirio (3); Charapendo (2); Coahuayana (3); Cofradia; Cuatro Caminos; La Placita (3); Lombardia (69); Nueva Italia (29); Pomaro; Rio Marquez, 10 km. S of Lombardia (2); Salitre de Estopila; Tafetan (2); Volcan Jorullo.

This snake is abundant in the arid Tepalcatepec Valley; most of the specimens have been collected in arid scrub forest at elevations of less than 500 meters. With the onset of the rains in late June and early July, large numbers of these snakes can be found around temporary pools, where they feed on small frogs and toads. In the dry season few individuals were found, and all of those were beneath cover. Specimens from the coast have more body-blotches than do those from the Tepalcatepec Valley (Duellman, 1958a:56); otherwise the snakes show little variation.

~Leptodeira splendida bressoni~ Taylor

_Leptodeira bressoni_ Taylor, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 25:321, July 10, 1939.--Hacienda El Sabino, Michoacan, Mexico.

_Leptodeira splendida bressoni_, Duellman, Bull. Amer. Mus.

Nat. Hist., 114:84, February 24, 1958.

Coalcoman (3); El Sabino (3); Uruapan (5).

The range of _Leptodeira splendida bressoni_ apparently does not overlap that of _Leptodeira maculata_; the latter is restricted to the lower reaches of the arid scrub forest, whereas _L. s. bressoni_ inhabits the upper limits of the arid scrub forest and the lower part of the pine-oak forest. Specimens have been collected between 950 and 1630 meters on the slopes of the Cordillera Volcanica and at 950 meters in the Sierra de Coalcoman. At Uruapan individuals were found beneath rocks along a stream and in a stone fence. _Leptodeira duellmani_, which was described from Coalcoman by Peters (1954:25), is an aberrant individual of _L. s.

bressoni_ (Duellman, 1958a:56).

~Leptophis diplotropis~ (Gunther)

_Ahaetulla diplotropis_ Gunther, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser.

4, 9:25, 1872.--Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico.

_Leptophis diplotropis_, Bocourt, Mission scientifique au Mexique et dans l'Amerique Centrale, Reptiles, livr. 15:835, 1897.

Between Aguililla and Dos Aguas; Arteaga; Coalcoman; El Diezmo; El Sabino (5); La Playa; Ocorla.

Most specimens of this species have been collected in tropical semi-deciduous forest at elevations of less than 1000 meters. In the Sierra de Coalcoman one was taken in pine-oak forest at an elevation of 1700 meters near Ocorla; another was found in broad-leafed forest between Aguililla and Dos Aguas at an elevation of 1600 meters. Most individuals have been seen in trees or bushes. The absence of broad-leafed forest in the Tepalcatepec Valley probably accounts for the absence of this snake in that area.

~Manolepis putnami~ (Jan)

_Dromicus putnami_ Jan, Elenco sistematico degli Ofidi, p.

67, 1863.--San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico.

_Manolepsis putnami_, Smith and Taylor, Bull. U. S. Natl.

Mus., 187:92, October 5, 1945.

La Placita (3); Maquili; Ostula.

In Michoacan the species has been found only in tropical semi-deciduous forest on the lower slopes of the Sierra de Coalcoman. From the observations made by Peters (1954:28), this snake is diurnal and feeds on teiid lizards.

~Masticophis striolatus striolatus~ Mertens

_Coluber striolatus_ Mertens, Zoologica (Stuttgart), 32:190, 1934.--Subst.i.tute name for _Coluber lineatus_ Bocourt, a secondary h.o.m.onym of _Coluber lineatus_ Linnaeus = _Lygophis lineatus_. Type locality restricted to Presidio de Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, by Smith and Taylor (1950a:343).

_Masticophis striolatus striolatus_, Zweifel and Norris, Amer. Midl. Nat., 54:242, July, 1955.

Apatzingan (4); Arteaga; Coalcoman (3); El Sabino; Jiquilpan; La Palma; La Playa (3); Lombardia; Nueva Italia; Rio Cachan; Santa Ana; Uruapan (2); Volcan Jorullo; Ziracuaretiro.

This large diurnal species inhabits open scrub forest and cultivated terrain from sea level to about 1650 meters. On the Mexican Plateau it is known from the area around Lago de Chapala, to which it possibly gained access through the valleys in the headwaters of the Tepalcatepec drainage. Specimens from southern Michoacan have been reported previously by Peters (1954:28) and Duellman (1954b:16) as _Masticophis flagellum lineatus_.

~Masticophis taeniatus australis~ Smith

_Masticophis taeniatus australis_ Smith, Jour. Was.h.i.+ngton Acad. Sci., 31:390, September 11, 1941.--Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Tacicuaro (2); Zamora.

This species reaches the southern limit of its distribution in the state of Michoacan. The limited ecological data available suggest that the species inhabits the open mesquite gra.s.sland of the Mexican Plateau.

~Oxybelis aeneus auratus~ (Bell)

_Dryinus auratus_ Bell, Zool. Jour., 2:324, 1825.--Mexico.

Type locality restricted to Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, by Smith and Taylor (1950a:340).

_Oxybelis aeneus auratus_, Bogert and Oliver, Bull. Amer.

Mus. Nat. Hist., 83:381, March 30, 1945.

Coahuayana; El Sabino (4); between Las Tecatas and Las Higuertas; between Los Pozos and La Cienega; Playa Azul; Pomaro (2); between Pomaro and Maruata (2); Punto San Telmo; Rio Tizupan.

On the basis of the number of specimens seen and collected on the seaward slopes of the Sierra de Coalcoman, this is a common snake there. Most specimens were collected in tropical semi-deciduous forest; others were collected in oak forest to an elevation of 1700 meters.

Apparently _Oxybelis_ does not inhabit the lower parts of the Tepalcatepec Valley; the only specimens from the inland area are four from El Sabino, which is situated at about 900 meters on the slopes of the Cordillera Volcanica. One individual was seen in gallery forest near Limoncito at an elevation of 730 meters on the northern slopes of the Sierra de Coalcoman.

~Pituophis deppei deppei~ (Dumeril)

_Elaphis deppei_ Dumeril, Mem. Acad. Inst. France, 23:453, 1835.--Mexico. Type locality restricted to San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico, Mexico, by Smith and Taylor (1950a:334).

_Pituophis deppei deppei_, Stull, Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ.

Michigan, 250:1, October 12, 1932.

Carapan (2); Morelia; Tacambaro; Tacicuaro; Zacapu.

Duellman (1960b) showed that the widespread species _Pituophis deppei_ was composite and that the "lined subspecies" actually represented another species, _Pituophis lineaticollis_. _Pituophis deppei_ occurs only on the Mexican Plateau; in Michoacan it inhabits mesquite gra.s.sland and oak-bunch gra.s.s a.s.sociations between 1900 and 2200 meters.

~Pituophis lineaticollis lineaticollis~ (Cope)

_Arizona lineaticollis_ Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.