Tamaulipan Milksnake

Lampropeltis annulata, commonly known as the Mexican or Tamaulipan milksnake, is a non-venomous species of milksnake (family Colubridae). It is native to northwestern Mexico and some adjacent Mexico–United States border regions.

Geographic range and habitat

This milksnake species is native to the dry, semi-arid regions of northeastern and north-central Mexico, predominantly the states of Coahuila, Tamaulipas and Nuevo León, and may additionally be found as far south as Guanajuato, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí and Querétaro, and as far east as the coast of Veracruz. It may also be found as far north as southwestern Texas, United States, where it has been observed near cities as far north as Kerrville, Ozona, San Angelo and San Antonio, among others.

Description

The Mexican milksnake has distinct red, black and cream or yellow-colored banding, wrapping around the body. This coloration is likely an evolutionary survival tactic to ward off potential predators by mimicking the venomous coral snake (Elapidae), which shares much of the same habitat, leading to the species sometimes being called a coral snake-"mimic." Localities indicate "whiter", brighter creams to the west, "dirtier" creams to the east and north, and often yellow or orange further south. The underside of the species is checkered black and white, in correlation to the overhead banding, with southern localities having higher concentrations of black, and northern localities having more white.

The subspecies can be differentiated from other milksnakes due to the darker light bands, which display at the very lightest—a creamy yellow color at the first light band following the black head (darker cream than other subspecies), with the rest of the light banding being solid cream. The darkest light bands will display: a bright yellow or orange-yellow color following the first light band adjacent to the black head, with the rest of the light banding being a lighter hue of either yellow, cream-yellow, or orange-yellow. Other milk snake subspecies may have darker light banding depending on the individual snake, and as described, the Mexican milk snake has a much higher prevalence of this trait and other distinctive features. The light bands are typically considerably larger than the black bands and broaden/widen towards the lower sides and ventral scales from the dorsal scales. Additional distinguishing features include all localities having red bands which are especially dark and crisp compared to other subspecies, with the red being around two or three times as wide as the black bands, and the red extending from the sides to the very edge of the ventral scales.