.gif)
Virginia (genus)
Encyclopedia
Virginia is a genus
of small, terrestrial
, colubrid
snake
s, native to the United States
. They are commonly referred to as earth snakes.
Ranges overlap, it is unknown if hybridization occurs.
color, with a lighter colored underside. Differentiating species can be difficult, but V. valeriae
has smooth scales, whereas V. striatula
has keeled scales. V. pulchra has weakly keeled scales.
, spending the vast majority of their time buried in loose soil, under rotting logs, or in leaf litter. They eat earthworms and soft bodied arthropod
s. They themselves are a food source for other species of snake, like the coral snake
.
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 small, terrestrial
Terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...
, 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, native to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. They are commonly referred to as earth snakes.
Species
- mountain earth snake, Virginia pulchra (Richmond, 1954)
- rough earth snake, Virginia striatulaVirginia striatulaThe rough earth snake is a species of nonvenomous natricine colubrid snake native to the southeastern United States. It was first described by Carolus Linnaeus in 1766, as Coluber striatulus.-Geographic range:...
(LinnaeusCarolus LinnaeusCarl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
, 1766) - smooth earth snake, Virginia valeriaeVirginia valeriaeThe smooth earth snake is a species of nonvenomous natricine colubrid snake native to the eastern half of the United States...
BairdSpencer Fullerton BairdSpencer Fullerton Baird was an American ornithologist, ichthyologist and herpetologist. Starting in 1850 he was assistant-secretary and later secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C...
& GirardCharles Frédéric GirardCharles Frédéric Girard was a French biologist specializing in ichthyology and herpetology.Born in Mulhouse, France, he studied at the College of Neuchâtel, Switzerland as a student of Louis Agassiz. In 1847, he accompanied Agassiz as his assistant to Harvard...
, 1853
Distribution
- V. pulchra - eastern United States, from PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
to West VirginiaWest VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east... - V. striatula - southeastern United States, from OklahomaOklahomaOklahoma 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...
and TexasTexasTexas 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...
to North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. - V. valeriae - eastern half of the United States, from IowaIowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
and TexasTexasTexas 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...
to PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Ranges overlap, it is unknown if hybridization occurs.
Description
Virginia species are small snakes, rarely exceeding 10 inches in length. They are normally a uniform 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....
color, with a lighter colored underside. Differentiating species can be difficult, but V. valeriae
Virginia valeriae
The smooth earth snake is a species of nonvenomous natricine colubrid snake native to the eastern half of the United States...
has smooth scales, whereas V. striatula
Virginia striatula
The rough earth snake is a species of nonvenomous natricine colubrid snake native to the southeastern United States. It was first described by Carolus Linnaeus in 1766, as Coluber striatulus.-Geographic range:...
has keeled scales. V. pulchra has weakly keeled scales.
Habitat & diet
Virginia species are fossorialFossorial
A fossorial organism is one that is adapted to digging and life underground such as the badger, the naked mole rat, and the mole salamanders Ambystomatidae...
, spending the vast majority of their time buried in loose soil, under rotting logs, or in leaf litter. They eat earthworms and soft bodied arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s. They themselves are a food source for other species of snake, like the coral snake
Coral snake
The coral snakes are a large group of elapid snakes that can be subdivided into two distinct groups, Old World coral snakes and New World coral snakes...
.