The milk snake or milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum; French: Couleuvre tachetée; Spanish: Culebra-real coralillo, Lithuanian: Pieninė gyvatė) is a species of king snake

Kingsnake

Kingsnakes are a type of colubrid snake that are members of the Lampropeltis genus, which also includes the milk snake along with another four species and 45 sub-species....

. There are 25 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...

 among the milk snakes, including the commonly named scarlet kingsnake

Scarlet Kingsnake

The Scarlet kingsnake is a species of kingsnake found in the southeastern and eastern portions of the United States. They are found in pine flatwoods hardwood hammocks, prairies, cultivated fields, and suburban areas...

 (L. t. elapsoides). The subspecies have strikingly different appearance, and many of them have their own common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

s. Some authorities suggest that this species may be split into several separate species.
They are distributed from southeastern 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...

, through most of the continental United States

United States

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

, to 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...

, down to western Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

 and northern Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

 of northern South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

.
Milk snakes grow 20 to 60 in (50.8 to 152.4 cm) long.